"Mr. Edwards ... that colorful Tennessee Wildcat Laura Ingalls Wilder so deeply loved. He helped Pa build the family's cabin, saved Christmas by carrying presents across a raging creek, and spit farther than Laura thought possible. Though he was a little rough around the edges, Laura simply adored Mr. Edwards. Through her vivid, heartwarming stories, we came to love him, too. But who was he? Virtually all Laura's Little House characters were real people ... even those whose names were changed to protect their reputations. ...
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"Mr. Edwards ... that colorful Tennessee Wildcat Laura Ingalls Wilder so deeply loved. He helped Pa build the family's cabin, saved Christmas by carrying presents across a raging creek, and spit farther than Laura thought possible. Though he was a little rough around the edges, Laura simply adored Mr. Edwards. Through her vivid, heartwarming stories, we came to love him, too. But who was he? Virtually all Laura's Little House characters were real people ... even those whose names were changed to protect their reputations. Mr. Edwards, however, wasn't so easy to track down. In fact, he's the sole Little House enigma ... the only mentioned character that hasn't clearly surfaced via historical records. Was he fiction, for the sake of illustrating pioneer stereotypes? Was he a composite character, built from several men Laura knew during their time in Kansas? Was he a loose collection of memories and family lore, cobbled together for the sake of the narrative? Or was he a real man, whose full identity had previously evaded discovery?"--Cover, page 4.
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Add this copy of Tennessee Wildcat: On the Trail of Laura Ingalls Wilder to cart. $13.68, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2023 by Practical Pioneer Press.
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Add this copy of Tennessee Wildcat: on the Trail of Laura Ingalls Wilder to cart. $65.04, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2023 by Practical Pioneer Press.
My mom read the Little House books to me when I was about 5 and I credit them with being a major contributor to my eventual love of history and historical fiction. Later on, of course, I read them for myself and loved them just as much. Now, I'll admit that more than one, even two, decades have passed since the last time that I read any of them. However, my fascination with just how much truth and how much fiction they contained has long remained.
After reading Robynne Elizabeth Miller's book The Three Faces Of Nellie sometime ago I was totally intrigued when I saw she had also written a book with J.D. Rushmore on the topic of Mr. Edwards who is arguably one of the more favorite characters from the TV show.
Tennessee Wildcat is very well laid out with careful progression showing the original question, the clues to be found within the pages of Laura Ingalls Wilder's writings, and the author's systematic search through records and maps spanning centuries and continents that leads to a logical and thoughtfully presented conclusion to the mystery...who was Mr. Edwards...?
I found Tennessee Wildcat to be every bit as intriguing as anticipated. The authors didn't just take other people's word for it but scoured the records themselves and they found a few surprises along the way. Despite the fact that I never read as much non-fiction as I should nor as much history as I want to, I finished this book in very short order. It was a good and informative read that I would highly recommend to any Little House, be it the books or the TV show, fan out there....
(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
