Allan Eckert writes books about the early years of America and her westward expansion at the expense of the many Indian tribes that the white people came into contact with. His research is extensive and his books paint a vivid picture of America’s frontier and the characters, both white and Indian, that shaped this land.

In this book Eckert details the life of Blue Jacket, a famous warrior of the Shawnees in the late 1700s. The surprise here is that he was, according the Eckert, a white man who was captured when he was seventeen. He took to the Indian way of life easily, married and raised a family, went to war and fought with bravery and honor. His hatred of white people was well documented. Blue Jacket became known as a strategist, and a strong war chief who led his people to victory on a few occasions.

Although Eckert seems to have researched this story extensively, his assertion about Blue Jacket is not accepted by all. Eckert claims that Blue Jacket was Marmaduke Van Swearingen, who was being bullied by his older brothers and unhappy at home. He elected to go with the Indians in exchange for his younger brothers freedom. I have read other books and articles that also offer the fact that Blue Jacket was a white captive who became an important leader of the Shawnee tribe, but whatever the truth, this was a fascinating story about a Shawnee warrior who both fought and worked hard to maintain their way of life, their culture and their lands. ( )

Excellent portrayal of Shawnee life. ( )

The author Allan Eckert is a very accomplished writer of historical fiction. He alwys does a lot of historical research even exploring the primary sources very carefully. The part of his works that are fiction is the majority of the conversations found throughout his books. This book about Marmaduke Van Swearingen is a very interesting book to read. Marmaduke was a white boy captured by the Shawnee Indians when he was 17 years old. He was adopted into the Shawnee tribe and given the name of Blue Jacket. Blue Jacket became a great warrior and was later selected to be the war chief of the Shawnees. He was the only war chief to become the war chief of the Shawnees. In 1791 Blue Jacket led the Shawnees to the greatest victory in western Ohio that the Indians ever had in a battle with white people. In many ways this book is a most unusual biography of a white man who was adopted by Native Americans