Frontiersman, explorer, and Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin spent thirty years making peace between white settlers and Southwest Indian tribes. Drawing on Hamblin's own journals and those of companions like Thales Haskell, Hartt Wixom traces his dangerous river crossings, expeditions to the Hopi, his near-execution by Navajos, his work with Major John Wesley Powell, and his testimony at the Mountain Meadows trial. A portrait of unshakable faith, duty, and courage on the rugged Utah-Arizona frontier. The Mormon 'Leatherstocking' who crossed the Colorado dozens of times and was the first white man to circle the Grand Canyon—yet no monument bears his name. Condemned to be burned alive by a Navajo council, he calmly said, 'Why should I be afraid while among my friends?'—and talked his way out. Major John Wesley Powell got the fame, but he couldn't have done it without Jacob Hamblin as his right-hand man among the Indians. A man who believed that so long as he never shed Indian blood, the Indians would never shed his—and lived it for thirty years. “Calmly told Navajos preparing to burn him over hot coals that he felt no fear. "Why should I be afraid while among my friends?"”Perfect for an adult Latter-day Saint reader interested in pioneer and Church history, Southwest exploration, and inspiring stories of frontier faith and Indian missionary work.
