Bøger af Win Blevins

A destiny defined by the exploration of a lifetime... When Flare O'Flaherty-son of Ireland, mountain trapper, and gambler-agrees to lead a group of missionaries downriver to the remote headquarters of the mighty Hudson's Bay Company, he doesn't expect to face the greatest challenge of a wandering man's lifetime in the form of the Snake River.Accompanied by Margaret Jewell and Shoshone Sima, Flare searches for his destiny along the mighty river that bears the shape of a serpent-and holds the promise of home.An adventurer's story told like never before, the Rivers of the West saga follows those compelled by the evocative grasp of the untamed frontier, looking to carve out a place in America's most awe-inspiring backcountry.

A spiritual quest becomes a wild adventure...A would-be priest, Dylan Campbell signs up with Nor'West Company to bring God to the Indians. But as he travels across the mighty Saskatchewan in the company of a mystical wanderer called the Druid, he witnesses acts of violence, carnality, and evil he never thought possible. Meeting a beautiful woman at Fort Augustus and a white-bearded enemy among the fierce and bloody Piegan Indians, Dylan learns what it means to brawl and scratch and struggle for life in refuge of the legendary High Missouri-utilizing mind, body, and soul.An adventurer's story told like never before, the Rivers of the West saga follows those compelled by the evocative grasp of the untamed frontier, looking to carve out a place in America's most awe-inspiring backcountry.

A tale of life, love, and the enduring bond between man and nature...Mac "The Dancer" Maclean has always embraced the wilderness of the American West. From a young man just beginning to live to his adulthood as a daring explorer in the Rockies, Mac has always felt his destiny pulling him to the fertile banks of the Yellowstone River.Traveling west with a small band of fellow explorers, he ventures deep into the heart of uncharted territory. With a gripping narrative that spans generations, Mac creates a life fully his own, leaving behind a legacy built on the wild rapids of the river he calls home.An adventurer's story told like never before, the Rivers of the West saga follows those compelled by the evocative grasp of the untamed frontier, looking to carve out a place in America's most awe-inspiring backcountry.

Land holds the stories of people, their legends, and their history. Yellowstone National Park is an extraordinary tale of people and the earth through time and this travel guide goes with you along the journey. Learn about the Indians who lived or traveled through Yellowstone, as well as the mountain men who were the first white people to discover Yellowstone, the government explorers who mapped it and fought to make it a park, the poachers and other explorers--foreign and domestic, high-born and low-born, who sojourned here. You will be led through all the travails, thrills, dramas, and serene satisfactions of the people over the park's history. Easy and enjoyable to read, this travel guide allows you to begin at whichever of the five park entrances you use and follow the park's story as you follow the road.

Get swept away by this never-before-seen western adventure from award-winning author Win Blevins that follows a larger-than-life young man as he discovers the untamed American West.Thomas Fitzpatrick always longed for something more-to see more, do more, and be more. At just seventeen, he leaves home and sails up the Mississippi River in the winter of 1822 only to cross paths with the famed explorer, William Clark. This serendipitous encounter marks the beginning of his epic adventures as a fur trader, leading him through trials and triumphs that are beyond anything he could have ever hoped for.Fitz's adventures unfold as he travels with a diverse group of companions, seeking the wild wonders of an untamed frontier. From surviving battles and discovering crucial routes through the Rockies to becoming a respected Indian negotiator, his life intersects with numerous iconic figures of his time, including Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and Kit Carson. As Fitz embarks on his long-awaited journey into the rugged landscapes of the American West, he begins to grasp that the life he's yearned for is tantalizingly close. But as he teeters on the brink of exhilarating experiences, the question looms: Will this newfound existence on the edge be his salvation...or his ultimate demise?Win Blevins' masterful storytelling takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the untamed West, reminding us all that even in the afterlife, great authors like Blevins continue to shape our understanding of history and adventure.

A young man rejects what he was taught in Sunday school-and then is lost in a wilderness of doubt and skepticism. He wanders for years. At last he gets fascinated by Crazy Horse, a Sioux chieftain who saw a better way: The path of the sweat lodge, the sacred pipe, and the vision quest. His search leads him to the friendship of a wise Shoshone man who shows him what doors these ceremonies can open.The young man, now middle-aged, feels free to throw skepticism and doubt to the winds. He takes up the sacred pipe. He goes on a vision quest, and on that quest his life is changed forever.In these pages Win Blevins tells a very personal story, a tale of starting in darkness and finding a path to riding high on the winds of spirit.REVIEWS for Win Blevins"Stone Song is a deeply spiritual story about the soul journey of a great and mysterious American hero." - The Dallas Morning News."RavenShadow has the impact of a hurled war lance." - Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee"It was an epic time, which lasted hardly more than a third of a century before civilization swarmed west on trails the mountain men had blazed. Now Blevins sees they are paid the awed honor that is due them, in a book which has the drama and suspense of a novel." ― Los Angeles Times/b>ABOUT Win BlevinsAfter starting as a critic for each of the two big LA newspapers, I quit to jump at my first chance to write a book. It was GIVE YOUR HEART TO THE HAWKS, now in print for more than forty years, and recently on the NEW YORK TIMES best-seller list. Three dozen other books have followed, including STONE SONG, the story of the life of Crazy Horse. That led me to become a pipe carrier and to walk the red road, an adventure I'd never dreamed of.

Historical characters, close calls, and good-natured fun abound in this light-hearted romp through the West with adventures worthy of Don Quixote. "Win Blevins is the best writer in America." --John Milius, screenwriter of 'Apocalypse Now' Here are two of the most improbable mountain men ever to trap and explore the Rocky Mountains. Shakespeare is a former actor, an older man of gargantuan proportion. His sidekick, Silk, is a rail-thin teenager with all the brains that Shakespeare lacks. They get into flabbergasting scrapes from wrestling bears, to falling in love with off-limits women in Santa Fe, a Crow woman warrior, and the porcelain-faced daughter of a trader. Silk and Shakespeare are fictional, but historical characters abound in this light-hearted romp through the west. Chief among these is Antelope Jim Beckwourth, the mulatto son of a Virginia plantation owner who became a warrior chief of the Crow Indians. Beckwourth's lover, Pine Leaf, was a legendary and very real woman-warrior of the Crows. This unlikely foursome gets into jams with dreaded enemies of the Crow and the Blackfeet. That's to be expected of characters who, like Don Quixote, dream of "enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, tempests, and other impossible follies." Reviews "Blevins 'Silk and Shakespeare' brims with good-natured fun!" -- Publisher's Weekly "Win Blevins displays an antic imagination, not only in mingling actual and invented characters, but in melding gritty action-adventure with metaphysical musings." - Dale Wasserman, author of Man of La Mancha "Win Blevins is the best writer in America." --John Milius, screenwriter of 'Apocalypse Now' "I haven't had so much fun reading a book about the West in years." -George Roy Hill, director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

"Beautiful. Blevins brings it all alive." - The Los Angeles Times This is the enthralling story of an authentic adventurer, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. He lived his dream in clashing cultures-that of Native American vitality and that of high European society. He mastered both worlds, but was ultimately forced to choose between them. The son of Sacajawea, guide for Lewis and Clark, Charbonneau was born on the adventure, and born to explore. As an infant, he infant traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back, carried along in the expedition's boats or upon his mother's back. As a child, Sacajawea sent her son to William Clark. There Charbonneau was raised in Clark's posh society, had Jesuit schooling in St. Louis, and was later educated in Europe-he became the welcome guest of kings. Throughout his life, Charbonneau and Clark maintained an extraordinary relationship. Charbonneau became a cultured man, at ease in the gentile civilization of European courts. But he was a man of two dreams, and the Western wilderness pulled at his heart. Charbonneau became an American explorer, guide, fur trapper-trader, military scout during the Mexican-American War, alcalde (mayor) of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, and a gold prospector and hotel operator in Northern California. He spoke French and English, and learned German and Spanish during his six years in Europe. He also spoke Shoshone and other western Native American languages, which he learned first from his family and then during his years of trapping and guiding. CHARBONNEAU is a novel of epic scope and lyric intensity, of vivid human drama and vigorous adventure! REVIEWS "A gripping historical novel . . . Blevins weaves authentic and documented material with the fruits of an impressive empathy. The characters live not only as recognizable people in their times and places, but as figures is an allegory of the West. There is some beautiful writing here. Blevins beings it all alive!" - Los Angeles Times "Blevins captures both Charbonneau's unique character and the full flavor of the American era in which he lived. From frontier hardships and the raw vigor of Native American life to the sensual and intellectual pleasures of high European society, 'Charbonneau' is a must-read novel of American resilience and intellect." The Denver Post

"Win Blevins, that master yarn-spinner, has done it again with 'The Rock Child.' A wonderfully wild one which you don't want to miss." - Tony Hillerman. "Packed with drama, adventure, humor, the lore of American Indians and Tibetan Buddhists, plus unforgettable historical characters, this book is a dazzling tour de force and a deeply moving story. A wild mythic novel of the American West. The climax would satisfy the Buddha himself!"- Library Journal An unlikely trio comprised of the Shoshone Indian Asie, a Tibetan nun, and Sir Richard Burton-the famous soldier and explorer-flees from the Utah Territory to California in 1862. The Destroying Angel of the Mormon Church, Porter Rockwell, pursues them relentlessly. The journey is jam-packed with unforgettable incidents and colorful characters, including a fledgling journalist named Mark Twain. In the end Asie discovers why he was named the Rock Child, what it means to be a man of color in America, what spiritual path will nurture him, who his people are, and the strength of love.Reviews"Blevins, whose book Stone Song fictionalized the life of the legendary Crazy Horse, has stated his aim is to write 'mythic novels of the American West.' He meets that goal in The Rock Child.The voices shift between an Indian-Anglo musical savant; Sun Moon, a virginal Tibetan nun shanghaied into American prostitution; and Sir Richard Burton, real-life explorer, linguist, and Arabian Nights translator. Joining Burton in rescuing Asie and Sun Moon from a dreadful fate is Mark Twain, a comedic catalyst that surprisingly few historical novelists have thought to exploit. Like Twain, Burton is well drawn. He's a cultivated, Sean Connery-type sinner who feels badly about his appetites, and the picaresque passages told from his perspective enliven this ambitious narrative." - Library Journal"A colorful novel set among the Mormons in 1862, featuring such real folks as Sam Clemens, Sir Richard Burton, Brigham Young, and Porter Rockwell, by the author of Stone Song, Win Blevins. Half-Indian Asie Taylor, a musical prodigy who has been accepted into the Church of the Latter-day Saints, drowns when his delivery wagon is overturned in a flash flood. He experiences an out-of-body experience, returns to life, and is amazed to see the scarred but beautiful face of Sun Moon above him. Sun is a Tibetan Buddhist nun who was kidnapped in Asia and shipped to America to be sold into prostitution. Tarim, the tavernkeeper who bought her, expects to resell her for a hefty sum."When Porter Rockwell, a Mormon known as the Destroying Angel (he seeks out and kills enemies of the church) buys Sun Moon, he attempts to satisfy his lust. Frustrated by his inability to do so, he disfigures her face. Sun Moon flees and falls in with Asie, who has decided to go in search of his origins and the meaning of his Shoshone name, Rock Child. Meanwhile, Rockwell is in pursuit of Sun Moon, determined to kill her-and anyone who gets in his way. "Tibetan-speaking Sir Richard Burton, a brilliant opium addict, is in Salt Lake City to persuade Brigham Young to form a separate Western Confederacy. Burton saves Asie and Sun Moon from Rockwell and joins their quest. For a while, Brigham Young gives them sanctuary from Rockwell, though Rockwell later follows the trio to San Francisco."'Life is a flabbergaster, ' says Asie Taylor, hero of Win Blevins's The Rock Child, a story that will flabbergast every reader who opens it. This is a rich, funny, fascinating, meaningful, and memorable novel from the author of that incredible masterpiece about Crazy Horse, Stone Song." -Rocky Mountain News"Win Blevins displays an antic imagination, not only in mingling actual and invented characters, but in melding gritty action-adventure with metaphysical musings." - Dale Wasserman, author of Man of La Mancha

From a three-time Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year, this tale of lost faith and crowning redemption follows one American Indian's spirit journey to heal his past and claim his future. "RavenShadow has the impact of a hurled war lance." -Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Before he was born, Joseph Blue Crow was chosen to carry the sacred ways of the Sioux. But instead of walking the good Red Road of his people, he put his feet on the white man's road of basketball and booze, women and the blues. Haunted by the loss of his Lakota heritage and the inexplicable suicide of the woman he loves, Blue sinks into alcoholism and despair. He soon finds himself on the precipice of oblivion, a train roaring toward his car on the railroad tracks. Only his best friend's words can save him: "You got to go on the mountain." Blue's journey takes him on a tortuous path, guided by a shaman and a spirit bird under whose wing lies the shadow of the past. He relives the massacre of Wounded Knee, standing beside his family and his people as they fall under fire of guns and cannons. Blue seeks redemption and healing through the course of this extraordinary story. Reviews "RavenShadow has the impact of a hurled war lance." -Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee "Win Blevins has long since won his place among the West's very best. RavenShadow adds a new dimension to reputation." -Tony Hillerman "An outstanding novel that people from age eight to eighty should read. . . . [Blevins] is a true storyteller in the tradition of Native people." -Lee Francis, chair of the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers "Blevins' prose is razor sharp, his characters are clearly defined, and his heart, like so many, is at Wounded Knee. An outstanding novel." -Booklist "A strong, thoughtful story." -Kirkus Reviews "[RavenShadow] is destined to become an American classic. . . . [Blevins] raises the genre to a new level." -Roundup Magazine "Powerful and poetic." -Tulsa World "No one can come away from this magnificent work without feeling humble and meditative. . . . Blevins beautifully and skillfully merges the past and the present." -El Paso Times

Into the uncharted West came the mountain men. They were French Canadians, Blacks, and Whites who left society and conventions behind. They all wanted to see a vast, unknown landscape. An earth that roiled and bubbled and erupted even when the skies were snow-filled. Powerful rivers that sculpted the land. An ocean that was wild with promise and mystery.The most complicated, and enigmatic, of these mountain men is Jedediah Smith.Smith is driven by a passion: He wants to walk every step of the unexplored American West. He wants to lead the way, to go where no white man has gone before. Smith wants to map all of it and publish his maps so others can see what awaits them. He wants to walk in a world where religion and family doesn't tie him down, but he reads the Bible every day and writes home often.His heart is filled with the call of the wild.In this biography Win Blevins gives Jedediah's adventures the drama and passion of a novel. He uses Jedediah's own point of view to tell the story from his first venture into the west, to his discovery of the pass over the Rocky Mountains, to his crossing great deserts to reach California, to his journey to Oregon and back to the Rockies.In the end Blevins takes the reader, breathless, to Smith's last moments.A great reading adventure!REVIEWS"It was an epic time, which lasted hardly more than a third of a century before civilization swarmed west on trails the mountain men had blazed. Now Blevins sees they are paid the awed honor that is due them, in a book which has the drama and suspense of a novel." ―Los Angeles Times"No one since the great A. B. Guthrie, Jr., has a better feel for the world of the mountain man." ―Don Coldsmith"For the lover of the early West, it is good entertainment... with lots of color, suspense and excitement." ―The Denver Post"Win Blevins is an American author of fiction and non-fiction. He has written many books about the western mountain trappers, and is known for his "mastery of western lore." -- Publisher's Weekly"Not since Frederick Manfred's 'Lord Grizzly' and Vardis Fisher's 'Mountain Man' has there been so gripping, authentic, and captivating a story of the men who matched the mountains of the Great American West. Win Blevins has long since won his place among the West's very best."- Tony Hillerman.

The continuation of Win Blevins's Rendezvous saga that began with the Spur Award-winning So Wild a Dream In the saga of the Old West, no figure was more legendary than the Mountain Man-the trapper-explorer who blazed the trails across the Rocky Mountains and opened the vast country between the Missouri frontier and the Pacific Ocean. Beauty for Ashes and Heaven is a Long Way Off follows Sam Morgan, a Pennsylvania boy who ran away from home and joined a party of fur trappers in the Rocky Mountains. Filled with action, danger, and romance, this is a memorable story of a boy who becomes a man by necessity in the cruel, beautiful, unexplored wilderness of the Old West.This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.

Of all the great warriors of Native America, Crazy Horse remains the most enigmatic. Scorned from his childhood for his light hair, he was a man who spurned the love of finery and honors so characteristic of Lakota Sioux warriors. Despite these differences, Crazy Horse led his people to their greatest victory at the Battle of the Little Big Horn where General Custer fell. Crazy Horse's entire life was a triumph of the spirit. In youth, Crazy Horse was set aside by his powerful vision of Rider, the spiritual expression of his future greatness, and by the passion and grief of his overwhelming love for a woman. It was only in battle that his heart could find rest. As his world crumbled, Crazy Horse managed to find his way in harmony with the age-old wisdom of the Lakota, and to beat the U.S. Army on its own terms. He lived, and died, his own man.

Stunningly portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Golden Globe Award-winning and twelve-time Academy Award nominated film The Revenant. Mountain man Hugh Glass's harrowing journey 300 miles to civilization after being mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead is just one of the incredible adventures Spur Award Winning author Win Blevins explores in the New York Times bestseller, Give Your Heart to the Hawks. In addition to the captivating story of Hugh Glass, Win Blevins presents a poetic tribute to these dauntless "first Westerners" who explored the Great American West from the time of Lewis and Clark into the 1840s. As trappers in a hostile, trackless land, their exploits opened the gates of the mountains for the wagon trains of pioneers who followed them. Here, among many, are the enthralling stories of: * John Colter, who, in 1808, naked and without weapons or food, escaped captivity by the Blackfeet and ran and walked 250 miles to Fort Lisa at the mouth of the Yellowstone River; * Kit Carson, who ran away from home at age 17, became a legendary mountain man in his 20s and served as scout and guide for John C. Fremont's westward explorations of the 1840s; * Jedediah Smith, a tall, gaunt, Bible-reading New Yorker whose trapping expeditions ranged from the Rockies to California and who was killed by Comanches on the Cimarron in 1831.

Did you ever need to spell ""dogie"" or need to know what a ""sakey"" is? This book can tell you how to spell, pronounce, and define over 5,000 terms relative to the American West. It is compiled of words brought into English from Native Americans, emigrants, Mormons, Hispanics, migrant workers, loggers, and fur trappers.