Children's book about Chief Grey Locke

Berkshire County’s Mount Greylock legends inspire new children’s book

By Stephen DravisThe book is composed of two parts: a historical fiction about a young American Indian, Gray-Locke, who grows to be a famous warrior, and a brief "History of Mt. Greylock" that covers the geology and ecology of the mountain in easy-to-understand language.

The first part gives a possible back story for a historical figure who loomed large in the French and Indian Wars. According to an article by Vermont historian James Millard, Chief Grey Locke, who is memorialized by a monument in Burlington, Vt., was the "greatest leader" of the Abenaki people.

Demeo’s narrative concerns itself less with the battles for which history remembers Chief Grey Locke and more with the formative years of a young man who defies the tradition of his tribe and ventures to the top of the "sacred mountain" now known as Mount Greylock.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.