Keep My White Sneakers, Kit Carson
AN ADVENTURE WITH THE BLACKFEET
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Perhaps the most remarkable character in "Keep My White Sneakers, Kit Carson," is Wind-Singing-in-Grass, the daughter of a Blackfeet Chief and in many ways the daughter the author never had. In many ways she is a young woman out of her time slot, a futuristic young woman who epitomizes the love and leadership of what is most remarkable about young women today, a Franciscan charity for the oppressed and suffering and the initiative to carry it out in meaningful action. She offers to guide the captive Sit-Near-Fire back to his homeland since the Blackfeet do not want to allow this unless he is blindfolded. Ted Bruckner, the main character, marvels at her Native-American skills and her doting father's permissiveness in allowing his daughter to lead such a dangerous mission. There are no mountain men to guide the group, but there are Blackfeet scouts to provide assistance and protection from marauding Sioux, the enemies of the Blackfeet. When the party comes across some journeying Flatheads accompanied by, of all people, a displaced Iroquois and his sons, Wind-Singing-in-Grass's friendliness initiates a meaningful encounter.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
"Keep My White Sneakers, Kit Carson" is a book about the Blackfeet Indians and the mountain men, trappers who tried to survive in the same, stunningly beautiful land just northwest of the Great Plains in what is now Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana. That they would get in each other's way was a given if one understands the fiercely independent nature of both. In a twist of science fiction, Ted, a high school student, is hurled back in time to join the man reputed to be the greatest mountain man of them all, Jim Bridger, and his friend, Kit Carson. They are the enemies of the Blackfeet, wily rulers of what was in the 1830's called the Edge of the Rockies. Into this fierce struggle comes Wind-Singing-in-Grass, the Blackfoot princess who rivals the charisma of Sacajawea. Her unique personality touches all in this chaotic region, including her father's captives such as Ted and the mysterious Shoshone, Sit-Near-Fire. Does Ted ever get back to the Twenty-first Century? Does he survive a Blackfoot onslaught that promises to put an end to Jim Bridger and Kit Carson? You'll enjoy the pace of a book written for young adults.
About the Author
Frederick Von Burg grew up on Long Island, and worked as a teacher to support his wife and three sons. His interest in the mountain men of the West came when he picked up, in a school library, a copy of Jim Bridger's biography. He researched the Blackfeet Indians and wrote his third book, "Keep My White Sneakers, Kit Carson," while visiting his oldest son in Princeton, New Jersey. Years later, while visiting the same son in Denver, Colorado, he came to appreciate the beauty of the West.