SQUAW MAN'S SON

by Evelyn Sibley Lampman ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 1978

Set in Oregon in the 1870s at the time of a Modoc Indian rebellion, this is the story of a 13-year-old half-breed whose Modoc mother is sent back to her people when his rough, ill-tempered father is offered the job of deputy sheriff on the condition that he ""get rid of"" his Indian wife. Suddenly respectable, Pa tries unsuccessfully to force Billy's acceptance among the white townspeople; but when he marries an intolerant, domineering white woman, Billy takes off for the Modoc camp--where he is witness to all the deliberations, skirmishes, schemes, and peace talks that lead eventually to all-out war--and, inevitably, with 1000 soldiers and 100 Warm Springs Indians against 56 Modoc warriors, to the Modocs' arrest. Pa, now full sheriff, has Billy released, but this time he too recognizes the futility of fighting white hostility, and so sends Billy off to relatives in San Francisco. Lampman's picture of the historical events is, as usual, convincing in both spirit and detail, and Billy--neither white nor Indian, man nor boy--makes a sympathetic focus.

Pub Date: March 10, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION