White Indian

At age 12 Elijah Nicholas Wilson ran away from his family. Fighting off the constraints of his Mormon upbringing he found a new home with a Shoshone Indian tribe. Under their guidance, particularly of the Great Chief Washakie, he learned how to live and survive in the wild lands of the far west. When Elijah turned fourteen, to prevent reprisals against his tribe for his 'abduction, ' he returned to his white family. He then worked as a Pony Express rider, stagecoach driver, trapper, translator, hostler, Indian agent, and whatever else was required to support himself and his family. Elijah Wilson was known as 'Yagaiki' when among the Shoshones, and in his later years as Uncle Nick when entertaining young children with his adventurous exploits. The White Indian Boy is his story.

"This book collects the complete Frank Frazetta sixteen issue run, of White Indian from the back pages of Durango Kid comics. Legendary hall of fame illustrator Frank Frazetta leads us through the wild adventures of Dan Brand and his blood brother Tipi. Frazetta is best known as an icon of fantastic art, for his oil paints of buxom beauties and brawny barbarians (Conan, Death Dealer, Tarzan) which have set record prices on the art market. However, Frazetta's diverse career also included movie posters, humor work, album covers and newspaper strip work. Vanguard continues its multi-volume collection of Frazetta's classic works with it's second volume, the comic book adventures of White Indian." -- Back cover

Deceit, compromise, and betrayal were the painful costs of becoming American for many families. For people of Indian, African, and European descent living in the newly formed United States, the most personal and emotional choices--to honor a friendship or pursue an intimate relationship--were often necessarily guided by the harsh economic realities imposed by the country's racial hierarchy. Few families in American history embody this struggle to survive the pervasive onslaught of racism more than the Graysons. Like many other residents of the eighteenth-century Native American South, where Black-Indian relations bore little social stigma, Katy Grayson and her brother William--both Creek Indians--had children with partners of African descent. As the plantation economy began to spread across their native land soon after the birth of the American republic, however, Katy abandoned her black partner and children to marry a Scottish-Creek man. She herself became a slaveholder, embracing slavery as a public display of her elevated place in America's racial hierarchy. William, by contrast, refused to leave his black wife and their several children and even legally emancipated them. Traveling separate paths, the Graysons survived the invasion of the Creek Nation by U.S. troops in 1813 and again in 1836 and endured the Trail of Tears, only to confront each other on the battlefield during the Civil War. Afterwards, they refused to recognize each other's existence. In 1907, when Creek Indians became U.S. citizens, Oklahoma gave force of law to the family schism by defining some Graysons as white, others as black. Tracking a full five generations of the Grayson family and basing his account in part on unprecedented access to the forty-four volume diary of G. W. Grayson, the one-time principal chief of the Creek Nation, Claudio Saunt tells not only of America's past, but of its present, shedding light on one of the most contentious issues in Indian politics, the role of "blood" in the construction of identity. Overwhelmed by the racial hierarchy in the United States and compelled to adopt the very ideology that oppressed them, the Graysons denied their kin, enslaved their relatives, married their masters, and went to war against each other. Claudio Saunt gives us not only a remarkable saga in its own right but one that illustrates the centrality of race in the American experience.

Book Summary After the bloody battle of Culloden Moor in the 18th century; a brave Scotsman known as Henry Leith left Scotland to travel to the colony of America. After marrying a Southern Belle from Virginia they moved to South Carolina to start a family. Only to have their son captured by the Indians. The Indians adopted him, and raised him for 16 years to become their leader and chief. George Washington’s Military Commanders hired John Leith to be an Indian interpreter to help him during the Revolutionary war in the Northwest territory, before it became the state of Ohio. As a member of the Leith Clan bloodline, and an ancestor of the Castle of Leith Hall. I can tell John Leith’s original authenticated story, and proud to be one of the last direct descendents of his family!

First published in 1910, The White Indian Boy quickly became a western classic. Readers fascinated by real-life 'cowboys and Indians' thrilled to Nick Wilson's frontier exploits, as he recounted running away to live with the Shoshone in his early teens, riding for the Pony Express, and helping settle Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The volume was so popular that Wilson's son Charles was compelled to write a second book, The Return of the White Indian, which picks up in 1895 where the first memoir ends, telling the adventures of Nick Wilson's later life. These books, published here as a single volume, are testaments to a unique time and place in American history. Because he had a heart for adventure and unusual proficiency with Native American languages, Wilson's life became an historical canvas on which was painted both the exploration and the closing of a frontier, as he went from childhood among the Shoshone to work as an interpreter for the U.S. government on Indian reservations in Wyoming and Idaho in his later years. This volume includes new introductory material, a family tree, and a background of Indian-white relations in Jackson Hole. Packed with amazing details about life in the Old West, Wilson's colorful escapades are once again available to a new generation of readers.

Step into the world of the Shoshone people with "The White Indian Boy: The Story of Uncle Nick Among the Shoshones" by Elijah Nicholas Wilson. Join us as we journey through the rugged wilderness of the American West and discover the remarkable true story of one man's extraordinary life among Native American tribes. But what if this tale is more than just a recounting of historical events? Delve into the heart of Uncle Nick's experiences and uncover the universal themes of friendship, resilience, and the enduring bonds of kinship. As Uncle Nick navigates the complexities of life on the frontier, you'll witness the profound impact of cultural exchange and mutual understanding between different peoples. From his early encounters with the Shoshones to his later adventures as a trusted member of their community, "The White Indian Boy" offers a glimpse into a world where acceptance and respect transcend cultural boundaries. Are you ready to embark on a journey of discovery and enlightenment? Prepare to be inspired by the courage and compassion of Uncle Nick as he bridges the divide between two worlds and finds his place among the Shoshone people. Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of Native American culture as you explore the customs, traditions, and spiritual beliefs of the Shoshone tribe. Let Uncle Nick's story serve as a testament to the power of empathy and the transformative potential of cross-cultural exchange. Here's your chance to experience the beauty and complexity of Native American life through the eyes of Uncle Nick. Don't miss out on the opportunity to be transported to a time and place where the bonds of friendship know no bounds. Will you heed the call of the wild? Secure your copy now and prepare to be captivated by the remarkable tale of "The White Indian Boy." It's more than just a book; it's a window into a world of adventure, friendship, and the enduring spirit of humanity. "

You have no doubt read or heard stories of the great wild West. Perhaps you have even listened to some grayhaired man or woman tell tales of the Indians and the trappers, who roamed over the hills and plains. They may have told you, too, of the daring Pony Express riders who used to go dashing along the wild trails over the prairies and mountains and desert, carrying the mails, and of the Overland men who drove their stages loaded with letters and passengers along the same dangerous roads. I know something about those stirring early times. More than sixty years of my life have been spent on the Western frontiers, with the pioneers, among the Indians, as a pony rider, a stage driver, a mountaineer, and a ranchman. I have taken my experiences as they came to me, much as a matter of course, not thinking of them as especially unusual or exciting. Many other men have had similar experiences. They were all bound up in the life we had to live in making the conquest of the West. Others seem, however, to find the stories of my life interesting. My grandchildren and other children, and even grown people, ask me again and again to tell these tales of the earlier days; so I have begun to feel that they may be worth telling and keeping. That is why I finally decided to write them. It has taken almost more courage to do this than it did actually to live through some of the exciting experiences. I have not had the privilege of attending schools, so it is very hard for me to tell my story with the pen; but perhaps I may be able to give my readers, young and old, some pleasure and help them to get a clearer, truer picture of the real wild West as it was when the pioneers first blazed their way into the land.