Dr. Samuel A. Forman

Ill-Fated Frontier: Peril and Possibilities in the Early American West

From the Publisher

Ill-Fated Frontier is at once a pioneer adventure and a compelling narrative of the frictions that emerged among entrepreneurial pioneers and their sixty slaves, Indians fighting to preserve their land, and Spanish colonials with their own agenda. Here is a turbulent and visceral portrait of the wild American frontier in 1789 that begins with an optimistic plan and ends with the body of one of the expedition’s leaders returning to New Jersey pickled in a barrel of rum.

What happened in between lies at the center of this fascinating account by Harvard historian Samuel A. Forman. It is a startling and frank portrait of an emerging United States that examines the dream of an inclusive American experience and its reality—a debate that continues today.

Imperious Revolutionary War antihero General David Forman contrives a huge land grant at Natchez, Spanish West Florida. Intending to create a plantation empire, he entrusts his naive young cousin Samuel S. Forman and experienced overseer Benajah Osman to drive the general’s sixty enslaved African Americans across 2,400 dangerous frontier miles. The general chooses the same grueling overland and river trek as had Dr. Antoine Saugrain, a disastrous choice for the Frenchman. Proceeding from home in New Jersey, the Americans face abolitionist women and Chief Little Turtle’s relentless warriors. Enslaved matriarch Ginnie and her fellow unwilling pioneers toe the narrow line between loyalty to the masters and the temptation of freedom. At the new territory, the Formans encounter suave Spanish colonials and a colorful horde of expat settlers, while the enslaved take on the herculean labors of building the future Cotton Kingdom. Lively, impeccably researched, and rich in details that have escaped the usual tales of American growth and enterprise, Ill-Fated Frontier shines new and entertaining light on what it means to be an American.

Reviews

“This is an important American origin saga and Samuel Forman is the right person to tell it.” Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times best-selling author

“This excellent and highly original book is a major contribution to American history. It enlarges our understanding of slavery and the westward movement by the breadth of its research and the depth of its understanding. Readers will be surprised by the scale of slavery in northeastern states before the Revolution, by the magnitude of the westward migration, and by the experience of many Americans in bondage and freedom. It also enlarges our understanding of the values of a free society.” —David Hackett Fischer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Washington’s Crossing, Liberty and Freedom, Albion’s Seed, Champlain’s Dream, Paul Revere’s Ride, and many others

Some of the many past discussions we’ve had related to exploration in the American west that are available to stream now in our archive:

• Stephen R. Bown — The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire
• Stephen L. Kling Jr.— The American Revolutionary War in the West
• Jerry Enzler— Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West
• Richard Parker —The Crossing: El Paso, The Southwest, And America’s Forgotten Origin Story

[Recorded October 14, 2021 and rebroadcasted on April 3, 2025]