Give Your Heart to the Hawks: A Tribute to the Mountain Men

With almost no true historical documentation of the era available, No book on this subject could possibly be based on 100% factual material. However, Winfred Blevins uses the information available to paint a vivid and colorful picture in the mind of the reader about the life and experiences of these hardy souls. The stories are engrossing and the writing makes you feel as if you are there seeing these things happen right before your own eyes. You can almost smell the buffalo roasting on a spit over an open campfire, or hear the sounds of the indians yelping it up right before John Colter takes off on his famous run, or taste the crystal clear waters of the headwaters of the Missouri river as they come rushing out of the high mountains of the Yellowstone country. You don't just read this book, you feel the stories it tells. This is definitely one of the best books I have read in a while. The information it shares and the entertainment it provides is some of the best out there. If you are interested in the subject of the first mountain men of the old west, then this is the first book you should buy.

Have you ever wondered where Hollywood got all those wild ideas for outdoor-oriented movies, in particular Western movies? Where did they come up with the notion that wild "savages" would strip a man naked and send him running through the wilderness with blood-thirsty warriors in pursuit? Where did they get the idea that a wounded wilderness traveler would chase wolves from a buffalo kill to get food for himself? And in the famous Sydney Pollack movie "Jeremiah Johnson" where did Will Geer get the notion that "...the Crows is the handsomest injuns there is,...not a man alive can match 'em on a horse..." Where did the rest of Hollywood's apparent wild fabrications come from? Turns out Hollywood isn't so creative after all! This stuff is all based on the true-life adventures of American frontiersmen and American indians! And "Give Your Heart to the Hawks" provides gripping and historically accurate accounts of the lives and times of these men. The book begins with the genesis of the "mountain man" era, the early 1800's with a man named John Coulter. Mr. Coulter, who was a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, preferred the wilderness to civilization and left Messrs. Lewis and Clark near the end of their famous journey. In fact, shortly after he left, indians stripped Mr. Coulter naked (after killing his partner) and sent him running across the plain with warriors in pursuit. And, against all odds, Mr. Coulter lived to tell about it!The book also covers the life-and-death struggles of other well-known frontiersmen such as Jedidiah Smith, Jim Bridger and David Jackson (after whom the Wyoming area of Jackson Hole was named). And also, some lesser known men such as Jim Beckwourth, Hugh Glass (who actually drove wolves from a buffalo kill!) and many others.Naturally, tales of indians and their interactions with the white men are a big part of this book. And lest you think contrarily, many indians were on good terms with the whites; the Shoshone and Crows in particular. But beware the arch-enemy of many an indian and white alike: the murderous Blackfeet and the treacherous Rees!"Hawks" is one of the most powerful and fascinating books I've ever read. It is not fiction, but it is also not a dry, tedious historical documentary. "Wagh!!" (to use mountain man jargon) it reads like an adventure novel; interesting, captivating and wholly entertaining. But it is highly educational too. One of the best of its type and appropriate for all ages.

An incredible read; an incredible story, make that stories. I couldn't wait to get home every night to continue the never ending saga of these men of heroic proportions. The depth of information by the author woven into an amazing technicolor fabric of a story that really needs to be told and told well is in this book. I became immersed in the lives of these characters and characters they were; I could almost feel what they felt as they lived their lives among that untamed wilderness we simply call the west, however, the lives of these amazing men was anything but simple.

This book is a wonderful example of the American frontier. The book goes in depth into the lives and the history of men like Jed Smith and Hugh Glass. Some of the stories sound fictional and incredible, but they are all real and accurate, the men were just that incredible! Win Blevins is an excellent writer, and he very accurately portrays the incredible lives of these men. A first class book!