New book by George Venn details unique friendship between Army officer and famed Nez Perce, Chief Joseph
Contact: Laura Hancock | University Advancement | lhancock@eou.edu
George Venn, photo by
Marie Balaban.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
LA GRANDE, Oregon - The anticipated "Soldier to Advocate: C.E.S. Wood's 1877 Legacy," by George Venn, retired professor emeritus at Eastern Oregon University, is due to hit bookshelves October 1.
Drawing from more than 90 different historical sources, "Soldier to Advocate" pieces together the story of Charles E.S. Wood, a Pennsylvania native and West Point graduate who fought in the Nez Perce War of 1877. Following Venn's transcript of Wood's unpublished diary, the reader explores Alaska with Wood, then marches in Idaho with the green and talented lieutenant. The diary is enriched by eighteen of Wood's original drawings secretly leaked to the New York press – the only eyewitness images of the Nez Perce War.
After the fighting ended, the young Army officer and Chief Joseph developed a unique and respectful friendship. "Soldier to Advocate" traces that relationship in Wood's prose and poetry from 1877 to 1939–over sixty years. Initially, Wood defends both Chief Joseph and his commander, General Oliver Otis Howard, but later he opposes Gen. Howard's unjust treatment of the non-treaty Nez Perces.
The front cover of Venn's "Soldier to Advocate"
depicts the faces of Woods and Chief Joseph.
Book brochure | pdf
“I highly recommend that any serious student of the Nez Perce campaign read this excellent and rich piece of work,” said W. Otis Halfmoon, former Idaho Unit Manager for the Nez Perce National Historical Park. “Mr. Venn’s research in ‘Soldier to Advocate’ will ad that ‘missing piece’ to some of the misunderstandings of the Nez Perce war.”
The story concludes in the 1990's by documenting three events in the Wood family legacy of friendship and respect for the Nez Perces, including their gift of a stallion to Chief Joseph's descendents in 1997.
"George Venn's work is a superb contribution to our knowledge of the Nez Perce War, particularly as it respects judgments about Charles E.S. Wood as a historian, participant, and literary influence," stated historian Jerome A. Greene in a review. Greene is the author of "Nez Perce Summer, 1877: The U.S. Army and the Nee-Me-Poo Crisis."
With 15 edited collections to his name, Venn is the author of four other books including "West of Paradise," which secured him a spot as an Oregon Book Award finalist, and "Marking the Magic Circle," which was chosen by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission as one of the best 100 books to be published in Oregon in two centuries.
Venn grew up in the northwest, has taught in Ecuador, Spain, and China. He attended Albertson College and the University of Montana, where he first read the story of the betrayed non-treaty Nez Perce and he has spent the past 11 years researching Wood's life and work. Professor of English and writer-in-residence for over thirty years, Venn retired from EOU in 2002 and was honored with the Distinguished Teaching Faculty Award.
Advance copies of "Soldier to Advocate" may now be ordered from area bookstores or directly from the publisher, Wordcraft of Oregon, LLC, at www.wordcraftoforegon.com.
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