French Roots: Adventures Along The New Madrid Fault Line, 1811-1812

French Roots: Adventures along the New Madrid Fault Line, 1811-1812

Norris Norman has picked a very difficult subject for his book and has done wonders with it. There is probably no more obscure part of the history of Arkansas than the period in which this book is situated, namely, the second decade of the nineteenth century.Mr. Norman makes it come alive in a very convincing way. His main character, a French/Indian mixed-blood or metis, is carefully crafted and is ideally positioned to tell the tale of the New Madrid earthquake, the early White settlers of a newly-American Arkansas, and the daily livesof Indians and Europeans alike...-- Hon. Morris S. Arnold, author of Unequal Laws Unto a Savage Race:European Legal Traditions in Arkansas 1686-1836 Review The author not only has a fine grasp of his subject and its sources, buthe is also quite obviously a master wordsman. In my experience, thiscombination puts him in a unique position to describe the practicalworld in which his characters operate. The descriptions of the Arkansaswild, and of the only real settlement at the time in what would becomethe state, are bound to fascinate and instruct.Norris Norman plainly loves his state and the people who havestruggled here to make it what it is. This book is not just a labor oflove, however it certainly is that: It is a revelation, and it will doubtlessspur others to ponder and write about this most interesting time inArkansas's history. -- Hon. Morris S. Arnold, author of Unequal Laws Unto a Savage Race: European Legal Traditions in Arkansas 1686-1836 About the Author Born in 1948, the youngest of four brothers, Norris Norman was raised on a farm in Northeast Arkansas where his ancestors had resided since 1824. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, he attended Arkansas State University, and the School of Science & Arts of Oklahoma University, earning a BA Political Science and History and a Masters Degree in Theology. After careers as a pastor in Washington state and teacher in Tennessee, he returned to his native NE Arkansas to write its history.