Working The Trapline —Tomahawks & Tunes

Robert W. Griffing strikes again. The grand master of historical frontier art recently posted a new painting — The Scouts of Major Grant. The Grant in question is Major James Grant, who commanded a contingent of regulars and militia approaching Fort Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio in 1758. As Griffing notes:

The painting depicts an event that took place during the Forbes campaign. Major Grant and his 77th Highlanders were sent out on a reconnaissance mission. At a camp a few miles from the fort, we see a junior officer going over the plan with their Cherokee scouts. Grants decision to attack the fort would end in a disastrous defeat as the French and Indians proved to be more than he anticipated.

Disastrous as in 342 killed, wounded or missing. A historical marker at the site of the September 14, 1758 fight skewers him pretty stiffly:

“Despite orders to avoid an engagement with the French, Major James Grant and his force of Scottish Highlanders attempted a brazen frontal attack on Fort Duquesne on September 14, 1758. To Grant’s surprise, French troops and Indian warriors poured out of the fort and surrounded the British on a nearby hill. More than half of Grant’s 850 troops were killed or captured.”

Brazen alright. Grant had the bagpipes skirling. Not exactly a stealthy approach.

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Jack Carr’s next one drops May 16. Here’s the caper:

In 1980, a freshman congressman was gunned down in Rhode Island, sending shockwaves through Washington that are still reverberating over four decades later.

Now, with the world on the brink of war and a weakened United States facing rampant inflation, political division, and shocking assassinations, a secret cabal of global elites is ready to assume control. And with the world’s most dangerous man locked in solitary confinement, the conspirators believe the final obstacle to complete domination has been eliminated. They’re wrong.

From the firms of Wall Street to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Moscow, secrets from the past have the uncanny ability to rise to the surface in the present.

With the odds stacked against him, James Reece is on a mission generations in the making. Unfortunately for his enemies, the former SEAL is not concerned with odds. He is on the warpath. And when James Reece picks up his tomahawk and sniper rifle, no one is out of range.

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Speaking of tomahawk wielding warriors…

A reminder that Season 3 of Into The Wild Frontier premiers on May 6 on INSP network. I found it on Frndly TV. This season is devoted to 18th Century Eastern Frontier stories.

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Anne Hillerman reported that the six-episode Season 2 of Dark Winds will launch July 30.

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Lady Marilyn has been playing a lot of Jason Isbell. Man, he’s good.

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Hawken Horse put together a “Wild Frontier” playlist. It’s badass.