Author Carol Dean has become one of the foremost writers on Native America over recent years with eleven books on the subject to her name. Her Native American history series has covered everything from the Apache and Chief Sitting Bull, to a biography of the last Comanche chief, the little-known Quanah Parker, her account of the role of the Navajo as World War Two codebreakers and her latest title, a biography of Buffalo Bill, which unearthed some facts about the great showman of which most people would not be aware.
However, she keeps the biggest surprise for herself because, although new readers would perhaps expect to discover that Carol lives in North America, maybe even in the shadow of the mighty Sierra Nevada, she actually lives in a quiet corner of Darlington, in South Durham.
The key to success for Carol – whose books are read worldwide – is that not only does she chronicle the lives of well-known Native Americans, but she also has a fascination for telling the stories of the people whom history largely forgot.
Her books are based on meticulous research, including trips to North America to ensure that she has an innate understanding of her subject.
Buffalo Bill The Legend is a good example of the care that she takes. Most people know the great showman’s basic story but Carol went further for her book and unearthed little known facts such as his support for women’s suffrage, his progressive approach to conservation – he supported the idea of a hunting season to protect animal populations – the fact that he was a Freemason and also that he became an icon for gangs operating in the Belgian Congo in the 1950s.
Carol said “It might seem odd that a former South Shields girl now living in Darlington would want to write about Native Americans, but it’s not really.
“As a very small child, my grandad gave me an encyclopaedia on ‘Cowboys and Indians’. This book was beyond my skills to read as I was only about four or five years old at the time but I came to love the images inside. Once I could read it, my concept of ‘Cowboys and Indians’ changed dramatically because it was the truth about what really happened. I was brought up on John Wayne films and still enjoy watching them, but it wasn’t like that at all.
“The interest stayed with me for years, but that’s all it was. An interest. I read books about my heroes Geronimo, Cochise, Chief Sitting Bull, but still never thought about doing anything myself until we went on holiday to Yellowstone.
“We visited an Indian Trading Post and I wanted to move in. It was tremendous. I found this fabulous photo of a very striking, proud-looking Native American Comanche Chief and just couldn’t leave without buying it. When we returned home, I made a pledge to this Native American that I would find out about him.
“I did and was amazed that this man Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief, had made such a huge mark on American history. My book and accompanying talk Quanah Parker- One Man Two Worlds was my tribute to this fantastic man. I kept my promise to him and he, in turn, inspired me to continue writing about all those heroes of mine, making a series of Native American Books.
“This also led to discovering that the Navajo were prominent during World War II, as codebreakers for the Americans battle against the Japanese. Native American languages had been used during the First World War and were successful but this time, something different was needed.
“The Navajo language was chosen and it is so complex that it was ideal to use as code and being the culture that they are, they devised extra words to cover military names that they did not have in their vocabulary. Only a native Navajo can speak and write the language it is so complex.
“The language totally foxed the Japanese and helped win the war, apparently. This inspired more research culminating in a book called ‘Navajo Culture and the Unbreakable Code’ and a talk of the same name.
“But even though the research on Native Americans was a creation of new knowledge for me, I felt it right and proper that I continued my series by writing about ‘The Days of the Old Wild West’ with the cardsharps, the legends, the frontier men and not forgetting those buffalo hunters, too.
“One buffalo hunter, in particular, piqued my interest on another trip to America where Cody, Wyoming was the destination.
“Buffalo Bill Cody was his name and many know of him, and I thought I did, too, until the research started. I was not the only person to have an interest in the remarkable man and this made my research vastly interesting and a huge learning curve to gain knowledge of everything he had achieved.
“After the visit to Cody and the superb Buffalo Bill museum there, I knew I had to write my tribute to this amazing man’s life. Buffalo Bill – The Legend has just been released with a talk almost ready to present to groups locally.
“For me, it was brilliant, during my research, to read how highly thought of he was. He was a living legend and called the ‘spirit of the west’. I feel he was the Wild West and he, through his Wild West Exhibitions – he did not like the word ‘show’, he felt his events were more educational than simple entertainment – brought the Wild West to the audience and they loved it.
“His life inspired writers of dime novels and plays to be written about this man. And many films have and will continue to be shown about this exciting life he had. He was no doubt a forward thinker, supporting suffragettes openly and always having talented females as part of his cast. His planning was meticulous and his exhibitions epitomised the Wild West and gave it life again. Millions of people would agree as millions turned up over the years to witness his exhibitions.
“I hadn’t realised how long and far he had travelled with the exhibitions, nor the amount of famous people that he had as cast members. And to discover that he had toured right on our doorstep in South Shields. That this was the memory my wonderful grandad had of Buffalo Bill and that he had actually seen the exhibition
there when he was only two years old in 1904. How fabulous. It makes you want to start writing, or it did me anyway. The legend lives on.
“So, it really doesn’t matter where you come from. If you have an interest that really inspires you to learn more about it or even write about it, then go for it. I did and I still am. There is still so much to learn with so many other people and places to research and it’s an adventure of discovery every day.”
LIST OF BOOKS IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN SERIES
Comanche Life
A Man Called Sitting Bull
Geronimo and Cochise – Two Apache Legends
The Trail of Tears
Quanah Parker One Man – Two Worlds
They Too Played Their Part
Where Everyone Knows Her Name
The Footsteps They Left Behind
Navajo Culture and the Unbreakable Code
Days of the Old Wild West
Buffalo Bill – The Legend
The series can all be purchased on Amazon.
John Dean - Crime Writer 