Into the Savage Country
William Wyeth cannot get the itch to explore out of his system. “I craved the forest and woods and the vast, wild spaces.” Into the Savage Country follows Wyeth’s exploits into the furthest boundaries of the American West during the 1820s. He joins a fur company and gets injured during a buffalo roundup. While healing at a Fort he falls in love with the widow Alene, who accepts his marriage proposal provided he doesn’t stay out in the wild more than one season. Wyeth sets off on one last adventure not knowing if she will wait or not. Deep in Crow territory, Wyeth and the trapping company find themselves in an international border dispute with the British, held captive by the Spanish and at war with the native tribes.
Into The Savage Country is a remarkable story of the rough life on the fringes of humanity, both the physical elements – told through the interaction of the fur trade – as well as the emotional – the relationships forged by the men in the companies. Shannon Burke holds the reader’s attention through suspenseful moments and gut-wrenching emotions. The writing is crisp and the storytelling sharp. Though Burke takes some liberties with historical figures by placing them where they never trod, it only adds to the richness of this book. This is as much a book about life in the West as it is about the way the wilds of the West transformed the people in it. Fans of early American and Western history should not miss this book, but anyone who is looking for a tightly told tale should put this on their to-read list.
