AUTHOR FAVOURITES: BENEATH A HUNTER’S MOON by MICHAEL ZIMMER

Michael Zimmer, winner of the Western Heritage Wrangler Award, tells me he has 4 favourites of his own westerns. One, BENEATH A HUNTER'S MOON, enters territory rarely visited by western writers. It’s 1832 and Big John McTavish is a Scots hunter and trader. He’s been living with the Métis, the part European, part Indian people of the Canadian prairies.

The novel is ‘an intriguing tale of Métis buffalo hunts, a long-lost daughter, and a macabre secret.’

The Métis are an ethnic group native to Canada and the northern U.S.A. tracing their descent to a mixture of Native peoples – largely the Cree – and European trappers – largely French but sometimes Scottish and English - who entered Indian country. The word derives from the French adjective métis, also spelled metice, referring to a hybrid, or someone of mixed ancestry.

The traditional Métis ‘homeland’ includes much of the Canadian Prairies centred on southern and central parts of Manitoba. Métis in the U.S.A. live in northern Michigan, the Red River Valley between North Dakota and Minnesota and eastern Montana. The Métis in Canada married within their own group, and over time, created a distinct culture of their own.

The Métis fought for their land and independence against the Canadian Government in two rebellions of 1869 and 1885. They were defeated. Later, however, the Métis in Canada were recognized as an aboriginal people under the Constitution Act of 1982. They number 451,795 as of 2011.

A Métis family in 1883 with a ‘Red River Cart’

Movies about the fur-trapping era include Across the wide Missouri, The Mountain Men, The Revenant and The Big Sky. It’s curious that this small band of fabled westerners – the trappers who went west to catch beaver between about 1810 and 1845, the so-called ‘mountain men,’ - have received relatively little attention from western TV and film makers, compared to say cowboys. After all mountain men lived much more dangerous and adventurous lives, plunging into a harsh and unforgiving wilderness. Almost daily they risked death from Indians, grizzly bears and the elements.

‘Across the wide Missouri’ (1951)

They did spawn legendary figures like KIT CARSON and JIM BRIDGER, whilst JEDEDIAH SMITH was the first American to blaze a trail to California in 1826-1827. Others, men like JOSEPH REDDEFORD WALKER and the ex-slave JIM BECKWOURTH, also forged trails to the west that later pioneers could follow.

JIM BRIDGER in later life

Reviews of BENEATH A HUNTER'S MOON:

 ‘Filled with action, unusual characters and a fast-paced plot.’ 

‘Not Your Usual Western’

‘An eloquent and authentic read!’

‘Eloquent prose, vivid descriptions, intense action - my anticipation of a great read was exceeded by depth of story and characters.’

‘I loved it, excellent story and superb writing!’

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Hunters-Moon-Western-Story-ebook/dp/B019M8IY9E/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=