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Title: Old Jules: Portrait of a Pioneer by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 1-56731-175-X Publisher: MJF Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.98 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Unlikely Origins of a Pioneer
Comment: In the book Old Jules, Sandoz presents a biographical account of her immigrant/pioneer father, Jules Ami Sandoz. By presenting the information in chronological order, Sandoz guides the reader through her father's arrival on the western frontier, emergence as an early community builder and agricultural expert, and role in establishing the identity of the Niobrara country of frontier Nebraska. Sandoz presents her father Jules to the reader relative to his position amidst the dynamic social, cultural, and political climates of late 19th century American frontier life in the Nebraska Territory. The author follows Jules through his involvement in land speculation, agriculture, political dealings, community building, and family life in order to acclimate the reader to the multifaceted realities of frontier life. Sandoz employs her personal knowledge of her father alongside historically accurate data, presenting the reader with not only an entertaining, but also informative biography of Old Jules.
Mari Sandoz argues that the biography of her father - Jules Sandoz: pioneer, settler, entrepreneur, agricultural and horticultural experimenter, area enthusiast and developer, friend of Indians, enemy of entrenched cattlemen, and devil to his family - not only provides entertaining reading, but also accurately depicts the historical period of American frontier life.
In the biography of Old Jules, Sandoz focuses on details of her father's life that distinguish him from other stereotypical pioneers and settlers, as well as commonalities that frontiersmen of the Nebraska Territory shared in their experience. Almost immediately, Sandoz informs the reader about the nationality and social upbringing of Jules, which most likely provided a stark contrast to the socio-economic backgrounds of the majority of pioneers and settlers. Jules immigrated to the United States, leaving behind an upper class background in Switzerland in search of his own fortune and to escape familial pressures to become a doctor. Educated and seemingly intelligent, Jules brought significant talents and strengths to the American frontier. Sandoz argues that her father's cleverness and considerable ability as an organizer and planner allowed him to succeed in the Nebraska Territory as an entrepreneur, agricultural and horticultural specialist, and community builder.
Sandoz shows Jules' unwavering confidence in the ability of the hard Nebraskan land and short growing season to nonetheless yield a successful agricultural return. Jules' detailed observations and recordings allowed him to refine his cultivation methods as to maximize the crop output and quality, making this knowledge a great asset to the frontier community. Sandoz focuses at detail on Jules' interest in agriculture to highlight his overwhelming desire to achieve self-sufficiency, a concept held in high regard by settlers and pioneers of the Great Plains during a period that placed high emphasis on individualism. Jules' contributions to the development of the Niobrara country didn't end with agricultural knowledge; Sandoz informs the reader of her father's correspondences with potential settlers, role in the creation of a local post office, and participation in land speculation for incoming migrants to the area. Sandoz shows that Old Jules' involvement in community organization and planning surpassed that of most people of the frontier. She contests that people of the immediate area looked to her father for not only agricultural advice, but also for guidance in many areas their daily lives including obtaining land, seeking justice, and dealing with the problems posed by the encroaching cattle ranchers.
The significance of Sandoz's biography not only lies in the presentation of her father Old Jules as a unique and capable pioneer and settler, but rather also in the book's accurate description of larger issues facing all settlers and pioneers of the Great Plains during the late 19th century. Sandoz uses the biography of her father as a case study to illustrate the position of the settler and pioneer relative to the conflicts arising with the cattle ranchers, the removal and eventual deterioration of American Indian culture, and the lawlessness that characterized the early history of the Midwest. In her examination of her father Jules, Mari Sandoz successfully shows that the challenging characteristics of American frontier life shaped and defined the lives of the pioneers and settlers of the period giving them a unique identity in the history of the American move westward.
Sandoz's biography of her father successfully combines engaging narrative alongside detailed historical accounts of the Niobrara country of the Nebraska Territory. The book not only entertains the reader through Sandoz's stories of her father Old Jules, but also educates about the nature of American frontier life on the Great Plains during the latter part of the 19th century. Certain elements of the book add to the understanding of the social, economic, and cultural aspects unique to American frontier life, providing a stark contrast to the urbanization taking place in Eastern portion of the country during the same period.
Rating: 5
Summary: A realistic account of the settling of northern Nebraska
Comment: Mari Sandoz was the daughter of Old Jules about whom she wrote as an historian rather than as his daughter. Her success is astonishing, as is the respect she retained for a father who on one occasion nearly killed her. It is not a book for the faint of heart. Mother would have been 100 in 1998, and was raised in IA and MN under similar circumstances. She was 'down' for several days after reading it because she related so closely to Mari's life. Old Jules was a man of determination and a dream he would not let die. His story is of individuals needed to settle the midwest which was wrested from weather and cattle barrons. You may become emotionally involved with childhood memories, but you will admire Mari's honesty and the success of Jule's life. So real!
Rating: 5
Summary: a pioneer man with a joy for knowledge and sharing it
Comment: I found this book while looking for Sandoz's book on Crazy Horse. A western librarian friend of a friend told her it's one of the most accurate books on life in the Old West.
You'd never get from a movie that so many settlers came from Europe and spoke French or German, or that they would send mail home to find a wife, who'd abandon them after a month.
Sandoz dad's populist temperment and character is familiar back in Switzerland under another name. There's a political party of Jules-like people there called the League of Independents (the "Duttweiler" party). It's affiliated with Migros, a cooperative grocery and low-end retail chain, whose founder was a rebel like Jules.
As a child, I once read books about people whom I imagined were like my own dad, on his deathbed then. This book brought me back. I can imagine my dad living like Jules --- boisterously, grousing but not really unhappy.
Though Mari (whom Jules called Marie but who seems to have adopted the Swiss spelling Mari when she was older) was very unhappy.
After Sandoz got this book right (which took many years), she wrote the Crazy Horse book.
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Title: Cheyenne Autumn by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 0803292120 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Love Song to the Plains by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 0803251726 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1966 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 0803258836 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1978 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Horsecatcher by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 0803291604 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1986 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas (50th Anniversary Edition) by Mari Sandoz ISBN: 0803292112 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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