Kindle Price: $2.99

Save $17.96 (86%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Walter D. Edmonds
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

In the Hands of the Senecas Kindle Edition

by Walter D Edmonds (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 70 ratings
See all formats and editions
Dygartsbush, New York, in the year 1778—smoke rising from lonely cabins, but not the fragrant smoke of cookfires, welcoming the men home from clearing, forest and trail. It was the bitter smoke of charred logs, smoldering in heaps which that morning had been the homes of the settlers—perhaps also the unspeakable smoke of burning flesh, for more than one hundred perished in the flames after his scalp was safely tucked in a raider’s belt.

Few men were taken as captives—the women and old children plodded the long trail back to the villages of the Senecas. This is their story, told by the author of Drums Along the Mohawk. It is a story out of New York State History, in which the tales of Walter Edmonds are always steeped. It is a story of Indians—real Indians who are impersonally cruel, simple and friendly, wise, brutal, sly, kind, proud, self-effacing, laughter-loving. It is a story of a woman’s steadfastness in the face of not only mortal danger but of the loss of all that had given her pride and confidence in living.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    219 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Borodino Books
  5. Publication date
    January 13, 2019
  6. File size
    1666 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The six episodes included here are quite similar to material found in Edmonds's best-selling Drums Along the Mohawk. The stories follow characters captured by the Seneca Indians in a raid on a pioneer settlement. Although the stories contain "adventure and romance," LJ's reviewer asserted they are also "thoughtful accounts of the relationship between the two races" (LJ 1/15/47).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Stories of adventure and romance, they are also thoughtful accounts of the relationship between the two races.-- "Library Journal"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07PCLMY6M
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Borodino Books (January 13, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 13, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1666 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 219 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 70 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Walter D. Edmonds

Walter D. Edmonds

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
70 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

JJ off the grid
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2021
Verified Purchase
Edmonds is a great writer/ historian. It might be good to read the intro to Drums Along the Mohawk to understand his perspective on how he faithfully represented the time period. On top of that, it was so well written that I tore through the book without even looking ahead to see what would happen. It was even more interesting because I live in the area and knew only the basics about what happened to individuals. A more comprehensive account would be Drums, but this is a good start and put me in the mood for more.
Helpful
 Report
crystal
4.0 out of 5 stars In the hands of the senecas
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2019
Verified Purchase
Good read. Love to read about history of mohawk valley. Hope to find more on history of new York. Was a enjoyable read.
Helpful
 Report
Huttotothesteph
5.0 out of 5 stars A good historical escape. Characters are well written and have depth, and the story is pretty “captivating”
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book, by the same author as Drums on the Mohawk, is lighter fare than Drums, but interesting none the less. Set in the time surrounding the revolutionary war it tells the story of capture, enslavement and adoption into some of the Native American tribes in New York of several white women. One kidnapped and made a slave, another a wife. A third adopted by the Chief and his childless wife finds herself mothered and loved by the couple.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
c langridge
5.0 out of 5 stars a very different and wonderful historical book
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is one of our favorite books, and I am always on the prowl to find new ones to give as gifts. The author's knowledge of this area of American history makes these books about up-state New York during America's war for independence from England a unique and fascinating way to learn about our country. The book is divided into five chapters which relate the experiences of five different characters taken hostage by the Seneca Indians during the late 1700's in New York. Their histories reflect diaries and correspondence of that time and are authentic. This is one of the best books I have ever read.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Cardfan
5.0 out of 5 stars Indian captivity
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
I have always found this subject fascinating and Edmunds an easy read. I first read the Matchlock Gun when I was in elementary school. Edmunds tells the story how it probably happened and leaves the reader to think about it. I know all indian captivity stories did not end happily, but he tells of the fear and uncertainty of the captives.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jared R Towler
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2017
Verified Purchase
What I expected from Walter Edmonds. Good stories, well told.
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars In the hands of the senecas
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed how the author described the way the different women s feelings and how they coped with their capture and captors.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Raul Escobar
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2019
Verified Purchase
True adventure, lovely writing and great characters. Don’t pass this up and be sure to check out Drums Along The Mohawk too.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Louise the book worm
4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly empathetic fictional addition to the Indian captivity narrative strand
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2008
Verified Purchase
I'd started reading an excellent compilation of women's indian captivity narratives, and from there, branched out in several different fiction and non-fiction directions. One took me to Edmonds' 1947 fictional work "In the Hands of the Senecas", a gripping read by the author of "Drums Along the Mohawk". I read that too, later, but much prefer the viewpoint of this low-key book. It tells the stories of a number of women abducted by a tribe of Seneca indians during (I believe) the period of the French, Indian and American wars - when immigrants from Europe were making inroads into the virgin forests of the East coast, much to the annoyance of the local tribes, whose land (and hunting ground) they were intruding on. It was also, of course, much more complicated than that. France and England were battling (or beginning to) for ownership of this virgin 'kingdom': and neither side made any scruple in setting tribe against tribe, native against white settler, in an effort to gain supremacy. Everyone was caught up in the turmoil. During this time white men, women and children were routinely taken captive by tribes making raids on white settlements. The purposes were various: retaliation; replacing lost tribe members; ransom. Some met bloody ends along the way; some, if they were young enough, integrated fully into their new family; some were ransomed or rescued. Some became little better than the slaves of their new 'owners'. It helped if you were young, strong, and not too inclined to think of the recent past.

(I'm working from memory and may have misremembered a few details.) In "In the Hands of the Senecas", Edmonds takes what might be seen as a sample selection of these sorts of stories, all involving women or children, and weaves them together out of one event: a raid on Dygartsbush, the settlement where, among others, newly married Delia Borst is acclimatising to life on the very edge of the wilderness.

I believe Edmonds wrote this in the 1940s; and I'm fascinated that he wrote such a story with such universal pathos - the narration treats everyone equally; the native characters are not 'written off' as in so much fiction of the early 20th Century (and of course the 19th) as mere cartoon 'savages' whose motives are pointlessly evil. They have reasons for what they do: these are explained. The subplots are told with great flow; the family lives of both native and white characters are explored; and a wealth of fascinating detail is woven into the story to illustrate (and humanise) both sides. Delia Borst's story is particularly intriguing - showing a 'moral' ambivalence that is very ahead of its time.

I periodically return to this book, for a re-read of a cracking story, fleshed out well by interesting characters, strong women and an unpatronising stance. Recommended for story-lovers everywhere. Those specifically interested in native culture as written by members of its communities, would be well advised to read Ella Cora Deloria's story "Waterlily", a thoroughly researched fictional tale of the Lakota plains indians that is more anthropology than fiction, giving priceless insider details about everyday plains life, dealing with family, sickness, festivals and food, among countless other details. I enjoyed Velma Wallis' "Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun: An Athabaskan Legend from Alaska"; and Adrian C Louis is surely the authoritative contemporary voice of native culture. For more on the historical side, with some reservations, I'd recommend reading the Penguin Classics book "Women's Indian Captivity Narratives", which contain a series of 'factual' accounts - well annotated to make sure they're read in context.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report