Killing George Washington

Why was frontiersman Lewis Wetzel—one of the most respected men of his time—sentenced to die for his crimes? What obstacles did Lewis and Clark’s slave, York, encounter during his trek across the continent? What terrible sacrifices did pioneer Charity Lamb make
to keep her family safe?

The narrative poems of Killing George Washington explore these questions and examine America’s past through the imagined voices of history’s forgotten. The author asks us to see beyond the labels of hero or victim, master or slave, to the complexity of the individuals who opened the American West.

Why was frontiersman Lewis Wetzel—one of the most respected men of his time—sentenced to die for his crimes? What obstacles did Lewis and Clark’s slave, York, encounter during his trek across the continent? What terrible sacrifices did pioneer Charity Lamb make
to keep her family safe?

The narrative poems of Killing George Washington explore these questions and examine America’s past through the imagined voices of history’s forgotten. The author asks us to see beyond the labels of hero or victim, master or slave, to the complexity of the individuals who opened the American West.