Description

Storm of the Shawnee is a sequel to Stephen Challis' Wildcat Mountain; set 5 years after the battle of Blue Licks, William and Becky have married and have a 5-year-old son, Billy. They have settled in the small outpost of Little Mountain in the Virginia County of Kentucky. While attending a wedding for frontier scout, Simon Kenton, William and Becky have their son kidnapped in a raid by the Shawnee Chief, Blue Jacket, bringing the War on the Frontier right to their doorstep.

William, now a captain in the militia, desperately tries to keep Becky in check while he joins with Kenton and Boone in negotiating a prisoner exchange with the Shawnee. The exchange is scheduled, but some Kentuckians attack the Shawnee and attempt to recover what they see as stolen horses, making it short-lived.

As the situation deteriorates, the Shawnee and Miami tribes unite under Chief Little Turtle; and in response, President Washington orders an army raised to fight them. The scene sets the stage for the bloodiest encounters so far, as General Harmer leads the US forces to annihilation on the banks of the Wabash River in November 1791.

The North-West Frontier is the setting for this novel, which is a period of great uncertainty. The United States had finally produced a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that the colonists could live with. They had also elected the country's first president, General George Washington. In the soon to be state of Kentucky, politicians and land speculators had sown mistrust and anger with the Native American tribes, and this had led to increased raids on settlers who had settled on land given to the Shawnee and Mingo by treaty. The Kentuckians felt no obligation to abide by any treaty that restricted what they considered their right to claim land anywhere they chose. To make matters worse, the British who were still smarting from losing the war of Independence were happily supplying arms and ammunition to the Tribes, besides providing advisors such as Simon Girty. Another war with Britain was on the horizon. Although Storm of the Shawnee is a fictional story as far as the main characters of Becky and William Tritt are concerned, the Historical figures are very much real. The events described are totally accurate and based on letters, reports, and eyewitness testimony.