Jon M. & Donna McDaniel Skovlin

Authors of The Murder of John Hawk

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About the Authors

Jon and Donna Skovlin's roots run deep in the Wallowas of northeast Oregon. Donna's ancestors were some of those early stockmen who quite possibly were members of the vigilante group that killed John Hawk. Jon has worked and lived off and on in Wallowa County since he was twelve years old. He has extensive knowledge of the geography and history of the area.

The couple is also noted for their well-researched histories of western badmen -- Hank Vaughan (1849-1893): A Hell-Raising Horse Trader of the Bunchgrass Territory and In Pursuit of the McCartys.

The Murder of John Hawk Indians, Stockmen, Vigilantes and the Settling of the Northwest Frontier by Jon M. & Donna McDaniel Skovlin Late on a moonlit night in the winter of 1881, a dozen armed men sneaked into the riverside camp of cattleman John Hawk and opened fire. The ambush and murder, devised and carried out by a group of northeast Oregon vigilantes, serves as the central episode in this dramatic case study of life on the nineteenth-century Northwest frontier. It's the history of a time that saw the Nez Perce leave and the homesteaders arrive, the stockmen competing for the open range and the vigilantes taking the law into their own hands. And the clash among these three cultures so prevalent in the Old West -- Indians, stockmen, and vigilantes -- eventually leads to the tragic murder of John Hawk. ISBN 1-930111-58-4, 103 pages, 7x8.5 inches, trade paper, numerous maps, historical and contemporary photographs, artwork, bibliography and index. $13.00 cover price. "Another Old West true crime book from the Skovlins, this one a study of how the conflicted interaction between Indian, homesteader, and stockman ended in vigilante injustice." Roundup Magazine Order this book

"A vibrant tale with exceptionally good prose." Pendleton Record "Bear Creek Press has released an impressive line of Oregon history books, and this is one of the best." Statesman Journal "Jon and Donna Skovlin have done it again. Here, in a mere 103 pages, is one of the most delightful little books on the West this reviewer has had the pleasure to read in some time." Roy B. Young, WOLA Journal "Jon and Donna Skovlin are establishing themselves as the authoriies on Northwestern frontier history." Chuck Parsons, NOLA Quarterly

Comments from Readers

"The Skovlins are the best researchers of all the historians who do outlaw/lawman books in the Northwest. Period." R.O., Tacoma, WA

"[The Skovlins] have taken the trouble to root out a story that has never reached light before, and not rehash something that has been told and retold. Keep up the good work." M.D. Sugar Grove, NC

For autographed copies of The Murder of John Hawk

($13.00+$2.95 shipping)

or to contact the Skovlins:

PO Box 121

Cove, Oregon 97824

E-mail: bearcreekpress@eoni.com

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