Daring Trader

<DIV><P>A fur trader in the Michigan Territory and confidant of both the U.S. government and local Indian tribes, Jacob Smith could have stepped out of a James Fenimore Cooper novel. Controversial, mysterious, and bold during his lifetime, in death Smith has not, until now, received the attention he deserves as a pivotal figure in Michigan&rsquo;s American period and the War of 1812. This is the exciting and unlikely story of a man at the frontier&rsquo;s edge, whose missions during both war and peace laid the groundwork for Michigan to accommodate settlers and farmers moving west. The book investigates Smith&rsquo;s many pursuits, including his role as an advisor to the Indians, from whom the federal government would gradually gain millions of acres of land, due in large part to Smith&rsquo;s work as an agent of influence. Crawford paints a colorful portrait of a complicated man during a dynamic period of change in Michigan&rsquo;s history.</P></DIV>