I'm updating this page to tell you I met Jim Pickett at a Christmas Festival where he was selling some of his collection. After speaking with him, I purchased the Kekionga series.
Kekionga is a fascinating part of our Midwest history. Located in what is now Fort Wayne, Indiana, it was an important Miami village long before our towns and cities came to be. Its story is tied to Chief Little Turtle and the struggles that helped shape Indiana and Ohio. Reading Jim Pickett's Kekionga series has renewed my interest in this chapter of our history and the stories behind the places we know today.
Book One begins with a pair of construction brothers digging in the spring of 1912 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, when they hit damaged bones in what used to be an old Indian village.
What happens thereafter is we travel back in time to 1790. We learn that flatboats filled with militia, led by the adventurous Mike Fink, are approached by canoes filled with war-painted Shawnee Indians.
Against the elaborate backdrop that Jim Pickett re-creates, we follow new Americans and the Native Americans led by General Josiah Harmar and Miami Chief Little Turtle inside the Old Northwest Territory.
The way this series begins readers get the human face and voice which affords an essence of presence and a sensory experience.
Themes of love, tradition, and sacrifice are paralleled with a good bit of dialog and readers have a dual perspective of Native Americans and New Americans.
This is a fast-paced read! I got caught up in the mood and intensity and was drawn in by the description of Mid-West locations I frequent.
The Harmar Campaign ended in the defeat of U.S. Army General Josiah Harmar and Colonel John Hardin by the Western Confederacy of Indians, which were led by Chief Mihšihkinaahkwa (Little Turtle) of the Miami tribe and Weyapiersenwah ( Blue Jacket) of the Shawnee at Kekionga - now Fort Wayne, Indiana.
About the Author
Jim Pickett grew up in New Haven, Indiana and attended the University of Saint Francis obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Education and then a Master of Science in Education. Mr. Pickett taught a variety of subjects in the DeKalb Central School District in Northeast Indiana, retiring in 2011
Mr. Pickett enjoys researching local and American history and has spoken about the battle of Kekionga at libraries and other historical venues.
