Reviews for Through Ordinary Eyes

The average rating for Through Ordinary Eyes based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-07-31 00:00:00 mike barbee Imagine Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy blended with Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, but factual, autobiographical, and delivered with a detached stoicism that speaks volumes about an industry of casual destruction and a culture of easy sociopathy. Forty Years is as fascinating as it is horrifying, however, and taught me more about the intimate realities of the ahead-of-the-frontier life in what is now the Dakotas and Montana circa mid-19th century, the post-voyageur-era fur trade, and the American Fur Company's internal operations in particular, than I knew it was possible to learn. I recommend it to anyone who likes first-hand accounts of murder, hard travel, and hard living, or anyone with interest in an Old North West prior to the arrival of railroads, towns, or "government" of any but the most rudimentary and profit-driven sort.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-08-08 00:00:00 Joseph Law I enjoyed this book. The details it provided concerning Indian customs and culture as well as the fur trade made it very interesting. Prior to reading this book my impression was that the bulk of the fur trade was done with anglo trappers - not so, at least not on the upper Missouri River. In the last chapter of the book, Larpenteur provides insight as to the customs and culture of the Indians in the area. He also gives his thoughts on the government's policies in dealing with the Indians, in particular the placement of military forts along the Missouri which he saw as un-necessary. This was something that struck a chord with me as my wife and I recently visited Fort Buford and its cemetery. We were both surprised at how few of the graves were due to being killed by Indians. Most of the deaths were due to disease or accidents. We both commented at the time that maybe there wasn't much fighting with the Indians in this area. Apparently, Larpenteur was right!