THE KENTUCKIANS

by Janice Holt Giles ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 27, 1953

The story of the first Kentucky settlement which secured its independence from Virginia and established a foothold in the face of the Ohio Indiana has a stronger basis in historical fact than in the narrative which is at best a convenience for the material researched and retold here. David Cooper is one of the first to stake out his land and build his house with the memory of a girl- Bethia- in mind. But when Bethia joins him, she is the wife of another man, Judd Jordan, an abusive character to whom she had been given by her father. Their petition is granted (George Rogers Clark and Patrick Henry figure here) and their county is set up with an independent government, but the situation tightens when 5000 Indians are armed and agitated by the British. Bethia disappears from the fort- with Judd, and it is Cooper who returns her to safety, and only after Judd is killed, learns that it is he who has betrayed them to the Indians..... The bright promise but harsher realities of wilderness settlement- this has a certain authenticity, but stockade characters and situations do little to civilize or glamorize this for easy entertainment.

Pub Date: July 27, 1953

ISBN: 0813101778

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1953

Categories: FICTION