Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie

by John Mack Faragher

Book Overview

"This is a book for anyone who has ridden down a country road and, hearing the wind whistle through the cornstalks, wondered about the Indians and pioneers who listened to that sound before him."--Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune

Winner of the 1986 Society for the History of the Early American Republic Award

The fascinating story of the birth and development of a rural American community from its origins at the turn of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300042639
• ISBN13: 9780300042634
• Release Date: March 1988
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Looking back to look ahead

I understand that there are actually a few problems with the accuracy of some of the events described but having my eyes opened to such things as the nonexistence of available cash and the trading of labor and the payment of taxes through a months labor along with other things made it a book WELL WORTH READING !!!!!

Sugar Creek

This book is fascinating and contained quite a bit of amazing information about the early days of Illinois. It helped me with my family research, as they are mentioned in the book and verifies their dates of arrival in Illinois and where they settled. The accounts of daily life, the hardships and early settling helped me to appreciate how blessed we are today with all that we have. For those that would like to learn more about the early days of Illinois and detailed descriptions of life back then, I would highly recommend this book. It is carefully researched and wonderfully written.

Rural History in America

John Faragher brings the fascinating story about the rural American community to life with the story of "Sugar Creek." Personally, I enjoyed reading the book on rural history, but sometimes I had to simply skip a couples pages (once and a while) that covered on the Genealogy of the settlers. The book takes place in Sangamon County, IL and is a great book on local history. Faragher tries to stay true to this introduction and writes an elegant masterpiece on local history with the little resources he can find. A changeling book to write and a nice change from reading history of urban America. It is nicely organized with chapters and I felt very comfortable reading it (with a large size font and easy to high-lighted).

Faragher Brings it all to Life

John Mack Faragher has brought the central Illinois frontier prairie to life in his "Sugar Creek". In the style of Michener, he begins by offering an early picture of the landscape and its earliest inhabitants. His grasp on historical happenings will stay with me forever especially with regard to how these earliest European settlers of Sangamon County, IL, moved right into the Native American's maple sugar manufacturing operation, soon after they had been killed or moved out. So much for our preconceived ideas of "Virgin Land and Untouched Prairies".I've lived near that area all my life and can claim some of these old timers who settled the Sugar Creek area as my ancestors. So through his excellent writing I can now appreciate a little more what life was like long ago for those who came before. It is with gratitude that I thank Mr. Faragher for this well written work and am recommending it to anyone I come across with ties to the area or just an interest in frontier life in general. Julie Clark Close

History buffs read this book!

I read this book for a history class in college. Mostly the book focused on the differences between the Indian way of life and the settlors ideals. The book was very descriptive of the landscape and it prompted me to visit the area written about (now it's Springfield, Illinois!). The book is non-fiction yet allows you to follow the characters through life as if it were fiction. I would recommend Sugar Creek to anyone interested in American History.