McGillivray and McIntosh Traders, The
On the Old Southwest Frontier, 1716-1815
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Amos Wright unveils exhaustive research following two extended Scottish clans as they made their way across the ocean to the American frontier. Once they arrived, the two families made an impact on the colonials, the British, the French, the Spanish, and the American Indians. Some of the Scots were ambitious traders, some were representatives for the Indians, some were warriors, and one ended up as a chief. This annotated history delves into the harsh and often violent lives of Scottish traders living on the frontier of colonial America.
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It's not easy to review a book that the author has poured his life's interest into and devoted 20 years of their life into. It's difficult to critique, when so much of the author is in the book.
It feels unfair and unjust. Regardless of the book's merits and failings.
It's a great resource, it's well researched.
Regardless of the title this is a book about Alexander McGillivray, there is background, especially his father and therefore the Scottish Highland connection,
There isn't so much about the other MacGillivray traders, but that is not Wright's fault. Anglicised records of Scots Gaelic names, that the distinctions and obvious relationships between all the Farquhars, Lachlans, Johns, Alexanders etc are lost.
There also isn't very much about the Mackintoshs. The Mackintosh and MacGillivray were intermarried and tightly linked in Strathnairn, allied together within Clan Chattan. There is likely a whole unresolved well of connection within the core research.
The book isn't particularly easy to read and because of that not very easy to absorb.
I ended up re-buying this an an e-book, so that I could annotate and reference. Then there was extra reading required around it.
This is a niche topic, however it is a rewarding book, if not a casual read.