William Joseph Snelling facts for kids
William Joseph Snelling (born December 26, 1804 – died December 24, 1848) was an American adventurer, writer, poet, and journalist. He wrote short stories about American Indian life. His stories were among the first to show the Plains Indians accurately. They were also some of the first attempts at realism by an American writer. Snelling's collections of short stories were among the earliest published in the United States.
Snelling was born and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. When he was a teenager and in his early twenties, he moved to the American frontier in Minnesota. There, he traded with American Indians and explored the area. He lived with the Dakota Indians for a while and learned their language and customs. In 1828, Snelling went back to Boston and started his writing career. He wrote for magazines and newspapers in New England. His strong opinions on American society made him both friends and enemies. For the next 20 years, he wrote about topics like American writing, gambling, and prison conditions.
William Snelling's Early Life and Adventures
William Joseph Snelling was born on December 26, 1804, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father, Josiah Snelling, was an army officer. His mother was Elizabeth Bell. When William was six years old, his mother passed away. He then moved outside Boston to live with relatives and go to school. At age 14, Snelling joined West Point, a famous military school.
Two years later, Snelling left West Point. He slowly moved west into the American frontier. He spent a winter living with the Dakota tribe of American Indians. In 1821, Snelling arrived at his father's military base, Fort St. Anthony. This fort was later renamed Fort Snelling in Minnesota. William Joseph Snelling stayed there for five years. During this time, he traded furs and explored the land around the fort.
Because he had lived with the Dakota, he learned their language and customs. This helped him work as an interpreter. He helped communicate between the Indian Agency and the tribes. For example, he helped solve disagreements between the Dakota and the Chippewa and Winnebago tribes. In 1826, Snelling married Dionice Fournier. She was a Frenchwoman. Sadly, she died just one year later. His father, Josiah Snelling, died in 1828. After this, William Joseph Snelling decided to move on.
Snelling's Career as a Writer
After his time on the frontier, Snelling returned to Boston. He began his career as a writer. Over the next 20 years, he wrote for many publications. These included American Monthly, Boston Book, the Boston Herald, the New England Galaxy, New England Magazine, North American Review, and Token.
Snelling shared his honest thoughts about American society. He also suggested ways to make society better. This made some people like him and others dislike him. One early example of his writing is Truth: A New Year's Gift for Scribblers. This piece was written in 1831. It made fun of American writing at the time.
As the editor of the New England Galaxy, Snelling started a movement against gambling among Boston's newspapers. He was sued for writing about this. To fight back, he published his articles as a pamphlet called "Exposé of the Vice of Gaming" in 1833. He used the money he earned from selling these pamphlets to pay his legal costs.
Writing About Native American Life
Snelling became most famous for his short stories. These stories were about his experiences on the American frontier. He understood that the way of life for the Plains Indians was changing and might disappear. He also felt that the way Indians were shown in popular American books was often wrong and based on stereotypes.
Because of this, he tried to write his stories with realism. This means he tried to show things exactly as they were. This made him one of the first American writers to do so. Even today, experts who study cultures recognize his works. They say his stories were the first to accurately show the life of the Plains Indians.
In one of his stories, "The Last of the Iron Hearts", Snelling wrote that the Indian was not a "ferocious brute" or a "brilliant, romantic" character. He meant that Indians were not like the exaggerated characters in other books. He also said that to truly understand Indians, one "must live, emphatically, live, with Indians." He believed you had to share their homes, food, and blankets for years. Only then could you truly understand their thoughts and feelings.
Snelling's stories were well-received by critics. Modern critics still praise them. In 1923, Fred Lewis Pattee wrote that Snelling's "Indian stories are undoubtedly the best written during the early period [of American literature]." Mary R. Reichardt, a writer who studied Snelling, said he created "engaging and vigorous tales." These stories were based on Native American life and legends. They also told stories about the cultural problems that happened when white settlers moved onto the frontier.
In 1830, Snelling published a collection of ten of his frontier stories. The book was called Tales of the Northwest; or, Sketches of Indian Life and Character. This was one of the earliest collections of short stories published in the United States. Snelling also wrote poems about his experiences. He wrote adventure and travel stories for children using the pen name Solomon Bell. William Joseph Snelling passed away on December 24, 1848.
