Widder's book is one of the newest best-told Michigan tales recounting the old story of how Chief Pontiac and his warriors captured Fort Michilimackinac from the British in 1763.
FORT CAPTURED: State's Hottest New Book Recounts Indian Raid 251 Years Ago
July 18, 2014
By: Dave Rogers
Michigan author Keith R. Widder will visit Saginaw Valley State University in September to receive an award for a new book published by Michigan State University Press.
Widder's is one of the newest best-told Michigan tales recounting the old story of how Chief Pontiac and his warriors captured Fort Michilimackinac from the British in 1763.
Widder will receive SVSU's 2014 Stuart D. and Vernice M. Gross Award for Literature that includes a $1,000 prize for "Beyond Pontiac's Shadow: Michilimackinac and the Anglo-Indian War of 1763."
The former curator of history at the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, Widder dissects a key moment in the political and cultural history of Michigan and the Great Lakes.
In a move reminiscent of the Greek's hollow wooden Trojan Horse of antiquity, a group of Native Americans used the cover of a lacrosse-like game to set up a surprise attack on British forces occupying the fort.
Ojibwe warriors from villages on Mackinac Island and along the Cheboygan River surprised the unsuspecting garrison while playing a game of baggatiway.
Widder explores Native American and French-Canadian communities in the region at the time, as well as the negotiations and interactions among the Native American tribes -- Ojibwe, Odawa and Menominee -- and the British as well as key aspects of the fur trade.
SVSU's award notice indicated the book has received strong reviews and was 'highly recommended' by Choice, a magazine covering academic libraries.
Widder also is the author of "Battle for the Soul: Metis Children Encounter Evangelical Protestants at Mackinaw Mission, 1823-1837," and "Michigan Agricultural College: The Evolution of a Land-Grant Philosophy 1855-1925."
Established by the late Stuart D. Gross and his wife, Vernice, of Saginaw, the Gross Award for Literature is administered by SVSU. Winners are selected of by a panel of judges from SVSU's staff and faculty. Judges this year were M. Patricia Cavanaugh, professor of English; Eric Gardner, associate dean of Arts and Behavioral Sciences; John Mauch, reference librarian; and Anne Menard, catalog librarian.
The group praised Widder's book for its "lively and accessible style, compelling analysis, rich research and lush production."
A longtime journalist with The Saginaw News, Gross joined the SVSU staff in the school's early years and served in a variety of public affairs positions.
He was a regional historian and published several books, including "Saginaw: A History of the Land and City," "When Timber was King," and "Where There is a Will."
After retirement from SVSU, Gross wrote and produced a play, "Let's Have Lunch Sometime." He died in 1996, Vernice Gross in 2001.
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