Mountain Men history book should be school textbook
Review by Larry S. Sterett | Contributing Editor
THE ADVENTURES OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN, edited by Stephen Brennan. Published by Skyhorse Publishing, Dept. TGM, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10019, Online: skyhorsepublishing.com. Price: $16.99. Available at most book stores, or online booksellers.
This mid-size 316-page paperback volume is sub-titled “True Tales of Hunting, Trapping, and Survival,” and that it is. Featuring a baker’s dozen chapters and a 42-page appendix, it features the tales of some of the most famous men and lesser known of yesteryear. Most people, who know anything about the development of the American West, have as least heard of Lewis & Clark, Jim Bridger, John Muir, Jedediah Smith, and possibly Coulter’s Run for his life. Fewer probably know of the others, such as Joe Meek, Captain Bonneville, and Zenus Leonard.
The chapters are relatively short—less than thirty pages–in length and one such can easily be read in a sitting. For general information on the region, Chapter 9–Game and Inhabitants of the Northern Mountains—is excellent. It covers a dozen or so game species, plus the Crow and Snake Indian tribes. (In the game portion, more pages are devoted to the Buffalo or Bison than other species. These animals are frequently called buffalo, rather than by their scientific name bison. (According to one source the buffalo moniker was tacked on them by the early Spanish explorers due to their resemblance to a humped back cow.) True buffalo are the Cape Buffalo found in southern Africa, and the Water Buffalo found in Asia. Of the bison there are apparently two varieties—Plains, found in the western US, etc., and the larger Woods species found in northern Canada and the Poland-Russian region. (Regardless, Buffalo Bill is a better moniker than Bison Bill. There may actually have been a Bison Bill in the late 1800s, but he was not the showman nor was he well known for any great deed or achievement.)
Illustrations consist of black-and-white sketches or reproductions of some period-related painting, plus a photograph of James Beckworth. Each chapter often features an illustration near the beginning and a few chapters may contain more.
The appendix by noted historian Carl P. Russell is informative and well-illustrated. Titled “Miscellaneous Iron Tools and Weapons That Went into the West,” it features footnotes for nearly every page. (There is no prologue, index or bibliography, or epilogue in this book.)
This is an interesting volume to read and enjoy, even though this reviewer has read several of the tales, such as Coulter’s Run, in other publications. Once reading begins it is difficult to lay the book aside until later. It is definitely worthy of shelf space with other history volumes. Actually, it should possibly be recommended reading for high school American history classes.
Illustrated textbook on Finland’s famous WWII submachinegun
Review by Larry S. Sterett | Contributing Editor
THE SUOMI SUBMACHINE GUN, by Leroy Thompson. Published by Osprey Publishing, Dept. TGM, 1385 Broadway. 5th. Floor, New York, NY 10018; online: www.ospreypublishing.com. Price: $20. Available through most bookstores and online booksellers..
This small 80-page magazine-size volume, printed on glossy paper, is the bible on one of the most overlooked submachine guns of the World War II era. The American Thompson, German MP38/40, British Sten, and Soviet PPSh-41 received the press coverage, but the Finnish Suomi (KP/-31) did the job.
In Finland’s war with the Soviet Union (1939-44) the Suomi sent many of the enemy troops to the hereafter, as did the tactics used by the hit-and-ski white ghost Finnish troops. This elaborately illustrated book tells the story of the gun itself, and its use, including as a light machine gun, sniping weapon, and more. While the submachine guns of most of the WWII era countries were replaced following the war, the Suomi remained in service until the 1980s, four decades later.
Following a three-page introduction this small tome is divided into four parts—Development, Use, Impact, and Conclusion—followed by a bibliography and index. Each part is illustrated with a black-and-white period photograph, or a full-color photograph or scene painting. The period photos are generally black-and-white, while those of the various individual KP/-31 and related SMGs, and/or enemy models, etc. are full color. (A sectioned full-color drawing of the KP/-31 receiver, along with three of the magazines—70-round drum, 50-round box, and 20-round box—is especially useful for study.)
Each KP/-31 was issued with two barrels—the second one to replace the first when it became literally red hot from repeated firing. This was accomplished by rotating the barrel removal lever on the right side of the forearm tip, pulling forward on the hot barrel—carefully using mittens or some hand protection—until it was free of the receiver. The second barrel was then inserted until fully seated, the removal lever rotated back into its original position and was business as usual. (Other submachine guns do not usually have a rapid-removal barrel system, although the German MG-42 light machine gun featured a quick-change barrel design, and the barrel on the MP-38/40 could be changed, if you had the proper equipment available.)
The Suomi had a rifle-type tangent rear sight graduated to 500 meters, a cocking handle similar to that found on bolt action rifles. It also featured a sliding safety/selector located in the forward bow of the trigger guard that could be operated while wearing mittens or gloves. All the way to the rear is safe, while halfway forward allows semi-automatic firing, and fully forward is full-auto.
**A report by Harold Denny of The New York Times illustrates the ingenuity the Finns used to kill Russians.
When the Russians were advancing in the Petsamo region almost unopposed in the early days of the war the Finnish patrol destroyed every building in Petsamo’s main settlement except the Finnish bath and prepared with fiendish ingenuity to receive the Russians.
The first Russian soldiers arriving took refuge from the cold in the bath. In one corner was a well. A Russian solder seized the rope and began hauling up a bucket of water. It was a booby trap. The well exploded, killing several Russian soldiers. But it was bitterly cold and after the excitement from this disaster had died down, a Russian pulled out the damper of the stove preparatory to lighting a fire. That set off another explosion which killed more Russians. The remainder rushed out and threw themselves into a near-by depression. That was also mined and all but two or three were killed. The survivors rushed blindly toward the bordering forest and as they reached it struck Finn wire which set off another mine and killed them.
This is an excellent small volume on the Suomi or KP/-31 submachine gun. It was well designed, had some unique features, and was both versatile and reliable in operation. (The only complaint, if it is such, was the fact that with a loaded 70-round drum magazine it weighed over 15 pounds, or about the same as the M1928 Thompson with a loaded 50-round drum.)
If you are interested in military small arms this tome provides info on one of the best and definitely effective submachine guns of the 20th century. It is worthy of space on any arms museum curator’s, military arms collector’s, or military historian’s bookshelf. The book is not highly technical, but definitely interesting, and the illustrations are superb, except the one on page 61.
(The caption for this full-page period states “A Finnish soldier aiming his KP/-31 from a rest…” Yet the barrel jacket has too many vents of the wrong shape, the charging handle in on the receiver side to the rear of the ejection port, there is no visible barrel lever, the box magazine is several inches to the rear of the forearm tip and has been inserted up through the underside of the forearm and not at the tip; meaning this particular SMG would not accept a drum magazine of the Suomi variety. Very interesting!)
True life accounts of noted Western sheriffs, outlaws
Review by Larry S. Sterett | Contributing Editor
FAMOUS SHERIFFS AND WESTERN OUTLAWS, by William MacLeod Raine. Published by Skyhorse Publishing, Dept. TGM, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10019, online: skyhorsepublishing.com. Price: $12.95. Available at most bookstores or Amazon. Kindle edition $9.99. ()
This pocket-size 304-page softbound volume features 15 stories—from Dodge to “Four Sixes to Beat____” of the American West of yesteryear. Most of the stories have been told before, but reading them again doesn’t make them any less interesting. (There is no introduction, bibliography or index.)
As stated, some of the tales have been told and possibly retold, such as the one of Beecher’s Island, while others are new, at least to this reviewer. This makes the volume even more interesting.
There are no illustrations in this book, not even drawings or sketches. Photography was known when many of the events happened, and it was popular at one time to take photographs of the corpses of dead outlaws. However, either the dead were not taken to a town where a photography studio was present, or they were not worthy of a photo. Yet photos are known to exist of many of the people mentioned, including Doc Holliday, Bill Tilghman, Pat Garrett, Bob Dalton, and Tom Horn. Regardless, it’s still an interesting book of western lore to enjoy reading at your leisure.
It tells of the most legendary heroes and villains of the Old West. Get swept back to a time when sheriffs did their best to keep order in a lawless land. Read about the likes of the “Apache Kid,” “Bucky” O’Neill, Tom Nickson, and many more!
