⇒ [PDF] A Voyage Long and Strange On the Trail of Vikings Conquistadors Lost Colonists and Other Adventurers in Early America Tony Horwitz 9780312428327 Books

A Voyage Long and Strange On the Trail of Vikings Conquistadors Lost Colonists and Other Adventurers in Early America Tony Horwitz 9780312428327 Books

Download As PDF : A Voyage Long and Strange On the Trail of Vikings Conquistadors Lost Colonists and Other Adventurers in Early America Tony Horwitz 9780312428327 Books

A Voyage Long and Strange On the Trail of Vikings Conquistadors Lost Colonists and Other Adventurers in Early America Tony Horwitz 9780312428327 Books

So said a Harvard clergyman participating in annual Forefathers' Day festivities in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Author Horwitz had asked the pointed question, "Why elevate the Pilgrims to iconic status and ignore all the others who came to America before them?" The clergyman responded, "Myth is more important than history. History is arbitrary, a collection of facts. Myth we choose, we create, we perpetuate. The story here [at Plymouth] may not be correct, but it transcends truth. It's like religion--beyond facts."

Myth versus facts and history: that's the theme of A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE. Horwitz was prompted to write the book after being told by a park ranger at Plymouth Rock that many visitors were somehow under the impression that Columbus had landed there. While that ignorance was lamentable, if not laughable, Horwitz realized how little he himself really knew about European exploration and settlement of the United States before 1620. So he embarked on three years of research and travel, which provided the basis for the book.

The principal historical "contacts" that Horwitz reports on are the Norse or Vikings in Vinland; Columbus's voyages, primarily to Hispaniola; Cabeza de Vaca's eight-year trek from Florida to the Gulf of California; Coronado's entrada across the Southwest and on into Kansas; De Soto's meandering expedition from Florida to the Mississippi River; the early Spanish and French(!) settlements of Florida; the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke; Jamestown; and, finally, the Pilgrims and Plymouth. For each of these, Horwitz provides the reader with sound history and many of the legends or myths.

Horwitz also goes on the road, to see the sites of these contacts and report on what current residents know and think about the history of their home. He visits L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland and Santo Domingo and the Dominican Republic; he traces Coronado's expedition from Hermosillo in Mexico through the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico ("Cibola" to Coronado) on to Lyons, Kansas ("Quivira" to Coronado); likewise he traces De Soto's trail across the American Southeast; and he visits St. Augustine, Roanoke, Jamestown, and (once again) Plymouth.

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that many of the myths have been created, or perpetuated, by locals and entrepreneurs who want to make money off the public's gullibility. One example concerns De Soto's route through the Southeast. Based on the life work of a Smithsonian scholar, the National Park Service outlined a new, more historically and archaeologically grounded, "De Soto Trail". "This sparked a firestorm of local protests, and put pressure on politicians to deny the project funding or to get [supporters of the new route] fired from state jobs." Most states, with the exception of Florida and Alabama, left in place all the markers along the old, now discredited route. Another example: the park in St. Augustine where the tourist can see Ponce de León's "fountain of youth" and even drink a plastic cup of "youth water", even though the conquistador did not land at St. Augustine much less find a youth-restoring spring there or anywhere else (he actually was searching for gold, not eternal youth); the flimflam is well known to local experts on St. Augustine history, but "none were willing to publicly contradict the fountain myth, since the family that owned the park and other historic attractions had sued detractors."

On his tours, Horwitz goes out of his way to interview descendants of the indigenous peoples whose lives and traditions were overwhelmed by the invasive Europeans. In his histories, Horwitz brings out the murder and mayhem wrought by those Europeans -- and not just against the Indians, but also against one another (witness the Spanish versus the French in Florida). He also underscores that in general the Indians were not backward, passive, simple-minded victims. (The Indian resistance to De Soto was especially sophisticated and impressive.)

The writing is congenial. Reading A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE can be a way of learning, or being refreshed on, a lot of history rather effortlessly and enjoyably. I know more about this period of history than probably 99% of Americans, yet I learned more than a couple new things and I was reminded of even more. For the most part I found Horwitz's history sound, although a few times I thought his historical gloss to be too general and there were a few (relatively minor) details that I think he got wrong. Still, a very good, highly readable book.

Unlike that Harvard clergyman, I cannot resign myself to accepting myth over fact, and I don't believe the public in general should either. Hence, there is a real place for books like A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE.


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A Voyage Long and Strange On the Trail of Vikings Conquistadors Lost Colonists and Other Adventurers in Early America Tony Horwitz 9780312428327 Books Reviews

It was the quote by Rev. Peter Gomes that "Myth trumps fact, always does, always has, always will" towards the end of "Voyage..." that really sums up the book and for me neatly summarizes everything. To a certain extent as I began reading "Voyage" that it felt all too much like a different version of Confederates in the Attic Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War a "naïve" American feels he doesn't understand the history of the United States and sets out on a lengthy travelogue to try and gain greater insight and a deeper understanding of what America was/is/will be to all the peoples who live here. And while that was quite novel and funny in "Confederates" it does start to wear and grate for readers who will quickly get a sense of déjà vu. That's not to say Horwitz isn't enjoyable or what he relates here isn't a new or fresh take, but it's all starting to feel a bit predictable and rote the trips to rural backwaters to flesh out both sides of the stories, hiking through vacant wastelands with no real connection to an event that took place over a hundred or perhaps hundreds of years ago, the odd bits of Americana. It soon all starts to sound and feel like something I might see on "The Daily Show" and what was once novel now borders on the cloying; yes, I get we're a country that doesn't know or understand our past and what that significance means to our presence and our future...so how do we rectify or change it?!? To that Horwitz offers no remedies or ideas, he merely keeps plodding along with his kvetching about how we know nothing. Even as a historian I have to admit there were a few things I either didn't know or had forgotten and clearly he's very current on historiographical debates on many subjects. Like his previous books "Voyage" points to how dumbed down the teaching of American History has become at every level including College level, yet in fairness how much more can we cram into survey level courses? Unless you take an upper level course on the age of exploration at the college level you're not likely to get exposed to this. And unlike Confederates in the Attic Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War there were few funny, poignant, or "AHA!" moments here. It seems almost as if Horwitz is forcing himself to follow these paths and explore these stories. Who else would go to such isolated and godforsaken places such as L'Anse aux Meadows or the vast barren stretches of the desert southwest?

Ultimately Horwitz does have some very interesting thoughts and observations about the peoples we cut out of American History or whom we gloss over, as they truly do relate more to who we are as a society rather than some phony ideal. The Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock sound like a great story, coming here for religious freedom, but the true story is actually a bit different as are the stories of the Puritans who later settled in what is now Boston. Narratives for these disparate groups were used by Consensus Historians to help frame a narrative of American Exceptionalism that whitewashes and overlooks certain elements while emphasizing others. There were many reasons why colonists came to what became the United States, but religious freedom was only one of many reasons why. Omitting the other reasons doesn't do us any favors nor does it present a balanced or nuanced portrait of our country or our people and those who came before us. The result is a diminished and demeaned understanding of who we are and what shaped our country and society. Horwitz certainly likes to poke fun at local historians, heritage and genealogical societies, and other historical groups for the biases and agendas and while I certainly fall in some of those categories and am a member of some of those groups I don't take offense as I'm well aware of the extremists that are out there. My point is not everyone who takes an interest in these groups is necessarily a nut case or whack job; there are many people who genuinely care about accurately and completely representing history and historical events. Its fine to poke fun at these groups but my concern is that as membership in these groups slowly fades out generationally what will take their place? What will likely happen is a diminishment and decrease in historic preservation, historiographical debate, and the contesting of public spaces which will further erode our understanding of our history. From a personal perspective I'd love to have Horwitz come up with something forward looking and actionable on what he feels needs to be done about our sad state of understanding and relating to history. It's easy to be an armchair quarterback criticizing everyone and everything, but it's another to come up with how to make things better. And quite honestly myth is easier to explain to people without the messy and complicated nuances, balanced explanations, opposing and contrarion points of view and more. It's hard to boil complicated issues down to a small panel is a museum (trust me...I know!) and to that extent it's an easier shortcut to go with myth. Why do you think ghost tours are so popular? It's not authenticity, it's the goosebumps factor of the myths and legends. People can chose to believe what they wish to believe and ignore the rest. Or as it was put in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "when legend becomes fact, print the legend."
If you are a To y Horowitz fan, you will like this one, too. I first read Confederates in The Attic by him, and liked it so much, that I read all of his books, basically what he does, is he gives you the history of the places he's going to visit. Then he visits the places and talks to the people who still live there today. It's always informative, often funny and always eye opening. I love this guy's books, thisone is about the early explorers in the Americas. You won't like most of them, but it gives a very good look at just what happened and what modern people think of it all today, people who still live there.
So said a Harvard clergyman participating in annual Forefathers' Day festivities in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Author Horwitz had asked the pointed question, "Why elevate the Pilgrims to iconic status and ignore all the others who came to America before them?" The clergyman responded, "Myth is more important than history. History is arbitrary, a collection of facts. Myth we choose, we create, we perpetuate. The story here [at Plymouth] may not be correct, but it transcends truth. It's like religion--beyond facts."

Myth versus facts and history that's the theme of A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE. Horwitz was prompted to write the book after being told by a park ranger at Plymouth Rock that many visitors were somehow under the impression that Columbus had landed there. While that ignorance was lamentable, if not laughable, Horwitz realized how little he himself really knew about European exploration and settlement of the United States before 1620. So he embarked on three years of research and travel, which provided the basis for the book.

The principal historical "contacts" that Horwitz reports on are the Norse or Vikings in Vinland; Columbus's voyages, primarily to Hispaniola; Cabeza de Vaca's eight-year trek from Florida to the Gulf of California; Coronado's entrada across the Southwest and on into Kansas; De Soto's meandering expedition from Florida to the Mississippi River; the early Spanish and French(!) settlements of Florida; the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke; Jamestown; and, finally, the Pilgrims and Plymouth. For each of these, Horwitz provides the reader with sound history and many of the legends or myths.

Horwitz also goes on the road, to see the sites of these contacts and report on what current residents know and think about the history of their home. He visits L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland and Santo Domingo and the Dominican Republic; he traces Coronado's expedition from Hermosillo in Mexico through the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico ("Cibola" to Coronado) on to Lyons, Kansas ("Quivira" to Coronado); likewise he traces De Soto's trail across the American Southeast; and he visits St. Augustine, Roanoke, Jamestown, and (once again) Plymouth.

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that many of the myths have been created, or perpetuated, by locals and entrepreneurs who want to make money off the public's gullibility. One example concerns De Soto's route through the Southeast. Based on the life work of a Smithsonian scholar, the National Park Service outlined a new, more historically and archaeologically grounded, "De Soto Trail". "This sparked a firestorm of local protests, and put pressure on politicians to deny the project funding or to get [supporters of the new route] fired from state jobs." Most states, with the exception of Florida and Alabama, left in place all the markers along the old, now discredited route. Another example the park in St. Augustine where the tourist can see Ponce de León's "fountain of youth" and even drink a plastic cup of "youth water", even though the conquistador did not land at St. Augustine much less find a youth-restoring spring there or anywhere else (he actually was searching for gold, not eternal youth); the flimflam is well known to local experts on St. Augustine history, but "none were willing to publicly contradict the fountain myth, since the family that owned the park and other historic attractions had sued detractors."

On his tours, Horwitz goes out of his way to interview descendants of the indigenous peoples whose lives and traditions were overwhelmed by the invasive Europeans. In his histories, Horwitz brings out the murder and mayhem wrought by those Europeans -- and not just against the Indians, but also against one another (witness the Spanish versus the French in Florida). He also underscores that in general the Indians were not backward, passive, simple-minded victims. (The Indian resistance to De Soto was especially sophisticated and impressive.)

The writing is congenial. Reading A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE can be a way of learning, or being refreshed on, a lot of history rather effortlessly and enjoyably. I know more about this period of history than probably 99% of Americans, yet I learned more than a couple new things and I was reminded of even more. For the most part I found Horwitz's history sound, although a few times I thought his historical gloss to be too general and there were a few (relatively minor) details that I think he got wrong. Still, a very good, highly readable book.

Unlike that Harvard clergyman, I cannot resign myself to accepting myth over fact, and I don't believe the public in general should either. Hence, there is a real place for books like A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE.