Walter D. Edmonds’ Drums Along The Mohawk is a tale of Colonists who survive Indian attacks in upstate New York during the Revolutionary War. Along the way we are treated to domestic and farming interludes with our main focus on the two central characters, a young newlywed couple, Gil and Magdalana (Lana) Martin. The young married couple come to the Mohawk River valley in New York to settle on the frontier. They arrive in the Mohawk River valley in New York state on the eve of the Revolutionary War. Lana and Gil come from different backgrounds. Lana comes from a wealthy family and Gil does not. This creates a source of conflict as Lana finds life on the frontier primitive and difficult, especially compared to what she is used to. Gil, on the other hand, joins the local militia in order to help defend the settlement from Indians allied to the British. Nonetheless, Lana tries to accommodate Gil, like when he is daydreaming about their settlement five years hence:
Gil: I thought you’d probably be hankering for a house.
Lana: Well, I probably will be. But that doesn’t mean you’ve got to moon about it so. When I get discontented I’ll let you know it fast enough.
The novel demonstrates how two people in love can overcome all manner of obstacles to live a decent and peaceful life. As the war rages through the Mohawk Valley, the newlyweds arm themselves with knife and musket to ward off a powerful alliance of enemies, made up of green-coated Tories, British regulars, and the Iroquois Indians. They live and love and protect their land through natural disasters, love and hate, and multiple attacks by the Indians allied with the British. The lines are clearly drawn between the oppressive British forces and the American colonists yearning to be free. All things American are good; all things not are bad.
The men always know exactly why they are fighting and for what they are fighting: family, community, prop...