Despite his background as New England minister, Timothy Flint became one of the more important men of letters in the American West during the first half of the nineteenth century. Demonstrating a remarkable range of interest and knowledge, he wrote books that classified geographical, historical, and biological features of the West. He also wrote fiction and served as a biographer for Daniel Boone, one of the enduring symbols of the West. Although much of Flint's work seems dated to twentieth-century readers, he was one of the best-known writers of his day and contributed substantially to conceptions of the literary West.

Born on or about 11 July 1780 in North Reading, Massachusetts, Timothy Flint was the fifth of nine children of William and Martha Kimball Flint. Although born into a farming family, Flint apparently did little work on the farm, probably because of ill health that plagued him all his life...