George Washington, Frontiersman

Rating:
Summary: You Really Have To Be A Zane Grey Fan
Review: My favorite Zane Grey books are his "easterns" -- the adventures of the Zane family and Lewis Wetzel in the Ohio Country. I was hoping this would be a welcome addition to that sub-genre. But the prose is just plodding. I could barely work my way through it.

Rating:
Summary: A non-classic indeed.
Review: Zane Grey wrote a large number of classic westerns and other novels, but this, a fictionalized narrative of George Washington's early years, and one of the last books Grey wrote, is not one of them. Beware of books that are not published until 55 years after the author's death. (There must have been a reason!)

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Tale of Washington's Early Years
Review: Zane Grey's "George Washington, Frontiersman" was, sadly, a large disappointment for me. As a avid reader of all things to do with the French and Indian War and the Eastern Frontier, I was excited to come across this "lost" Grey novel about George Washington's early years as a surveyor and later a soldier with the Virginia Militia fighting against the French and Indians in the Ohio Country.

The book tells the story of a young Washington and his early life as a surveyor on the western Virginia frontier and his relationships with his neighbors the Fairfaxes and his love affair with Sally Carey, later the wife of his friend George Fairfax. In 1753 Washington is called upon by the Crown to take a message to the French forces moving into the Ohio lands demanding their immediate evacuation from the King's lands. Following the failure of this mission, Washington is sent as the leader of an expedition to force the French from the Ohio Country, leading to the disasterous debacle of Fort Necessity and, later as aide de camp to General Braddock, to the horrible and bloody defeat of that campaign at Fort Dusquene. The history here alone is more than adequate for a exciting and engaging tale.

Unfortunately, Grey, who has written some great material, fails here to convey any sense of interest or excitement. It was a struggle just to get through the first few chapters. Historical accuracy has been sacrificed for melodrama and poor dialogue. Washington comes across as a brave and hardy frontiersman, able to fight Indians, track game, and carve civilization from the wilderness almost single-handedly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Washington, while possessing many admirable traits, not the least of which was his leadership qualities, was really just an ambitious syncophant, eager for a commission as a royal officer and really nothing more than an untried greenhorn in the ways of the woods as can be seen by his horrible failure at Green Meadows and in his dealings with the Indians.

Ultimately, this book failed to live up to many of its expectations, and that was a great disappointment. I would greatly recommend Allan Eckerts "Wilderness Empire" for a far more enjoyable telling of the same events.