The Plains of Abraham
Encyclopedia
The Plains of Abraham is a 1928 novel by James Oliver Curwood
.
(now part of Canada
), Daniel "James" Bulain, son of a French habitant and of an English schoolmaster's daughter sees his world turned upside-down as his family and the people of the neighbouring seigneurie are massacred by a war party of Mohawk
s. In his escape into the wilderness he is united with the unrequited love of his childhood, Toinette Tonteur, daughter of the local seigneur, when they are captured by a war party of Seneca
s, brought to their hidden village far to the west in the wilderness and eventually adopted into their tribe. In the spring following their first winter with the tribe, believing that Toinette, now his wife, has been killed while he was absent from the village, James escapes and joins the French forces under Montcalm and three years later is gravely wounded at the battle of the Plains of Abraham
at Quebec
. Cared for by the nuns of the General Hospital, James rises from unconsciousness almost a month later and is reunited with his wife and discovers he has an infant son, after wandering about the battle-scarred town obsessed with finding the three-legged dog he saw pass between the French and English lines just before the battle, which so resembled his own Odd ("Odds and ends"), whom he had last seen in the Seneca village with his wife.
James Oliver Curwood
James Oliver Curwood was an American novelist and conservationist. His writing studio, Curwood Castle, is now a museum in Owosso, Michigan.-Biography and career:Curwood was born in Owosso, the youngest of four children...
.
Plot
During the last half of the eighteenth century, in what was then New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
(now part of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), Daniel "James" Bulain, son of a French habitant and of an English schoolmaster's daughter sees his world turned upside-down as his family and the people of the neighbouring seigneurie are massacred by a war party of Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
s. In his escape into the wilderness he is united with the unrequited love of his childhood, Toinette Tonteur, daughter of the local seigneur, when they are captured by a war party of Seneca
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
s, brought to their hidden village far to the west in the wilderness and eventually adopted into their tribe. In the spring following their first winter with the tribe, believing that Toinette, now his wife, has been killed while he was absent from the village, James escapes and joins the French forces under Montcalm and three years later is gravely wounded at the battle of the Plains of Abraham
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
at Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Cared for by the nuns of the General Hospital, James rises from unconsciousness almost a month later and is reunited with his wife and discovers he has an infant son, after wandering about the battle-scarred town obsessed with finding the three-legged dog he saw pass between the French and English lines just before the battle, which so resembled his own Odd ("Odds and ends"), whom he had last seen in the Seneca village with his wife.