Murder in Their Hearts: The Fall Creek Massacre by David Thomas Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Murphy has not only written a great treatment of the Fall Creek Massacre but also a wonderful overview of life on the Indiana frontier in the 1820s. The interaction between the local, state, and federal governments, and between the white and native populations were incredibly complex and Murphy does a good job of examining the gray areas and ambiguity in this case–particularly its astounding lack of long term impact on white/native relations in the Old Northwest.
One of the problems with the Massacre is the lack of documentation (the trial transcripts were lost in a courthouse fire). The book is also a good primer in the imperfect craft of reconstructing historical narratives from whatever sources are available.
If I were to teach a section of my early US history survey for honors students, this book would be on the list.
