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Ill-Fated Frontier

Peril and Possibilities in the Early American West

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North becomes Mississippi Deep Delta South in Ill-Fated Frontier, a modern retelling of a Revolutionary Era multi-racial and multi-ethnic pioneer odyssey. Rich in details that have escaped the usual tales of American growth and enterprise, the book shines new and entertaining light on what it means to be an American. Publication date is July 15, 2021.

Ill-Fated Frontier is at once a pioneer adventure and a compelling narrative of the frictions that emerged among entrepreneurial pioneers and their sixty slaves, Indians fighting to preserve their land, and Spanish colonials with their own agenda. Here is a lively and visceral portrait of the wild American frontier in 1789 that begins with an optimistic plan and ends with the body of one of the expedition’s leaders returning to New Jersey pickled in a barrel of rum.

What happened in between lies at the center of this fascinating account by Harvard historian Samuel A. Forman. It is a startling and frank depiction of an emerging United States that examines the dream of an inclusive American experience and its reality—a debate that continues today.

Imperious Revolutionary War antihero General David Forman contrives a huge land grant at Natchez, Spanish West Florida. Intending to create a plantation empire, he entrusts his naive young cousin Samuel S. Forman and experienced overseer Benajah Osman to drive the general’s sixty enslaved African Americans across 2,400 dangerous frontier miles. The general chooses the same grueling overland and river trek as had Dr. Antoine Saugrain, a disastrous choice for the Frenchman. Proceeding from home in New Jersey, the Americans face abolitionist women and Chief Little Turtle’s relentless warriors. Enslaved matriarch Ginnie and her fellow unwilling pioneers toe the narrow line between loyalty to the masters and the temptation of freedom. At the new territory, the Formans encounter suave Spanish colonials and a colorful horde of expat settlers, while the enslaved take on the herculean labors of building the future Cotton Kingdom.

See what pre-publication readers think of the book here.

Read about the author and a sampling of historical figures important to this history.

Every week, the Journal will serve up scholarly underpinnings and compelling details concerning the Revolutionary Era in America’s West and South. Best enjoyed as an extension of the Ill-Fated Frontier hard copy book, this website’s content will be freely available and stand on its own merits.

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Massachusetts Historical Society, Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 6:00-7:00 PM.  Author talk and reception. Live on site and remotely via Zoom.

About the Author

Samuel A. Forman is a historian, physician, educator, and businessperson. He is the president of Oak and Ivy Health Systems and a visiting scientist at Harvard University. Throughout his successful careers as a physician, military officer, and businessman, he has published and lectured on historical topics impacting current issues. His identical surname as the historical protagonists is entirely coincidental; he is unrelated to any of them.

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Material by Samuel A. Forman everywhere on this website is licensed under the Creative Commons-Attribution-No Derivatives (CC-BY-ND) 4.0 International License. See 'Terms of Use' on Home page for restrictions on materials by others and copyrighted images and videos that may appear on this website.