THE FORGOTTEN LAND (1917) – Written by H. H. Knibbs. This writer was much better known for his poems about the American West. The Forgotten Land ventured into science fiction and “future history.”
This short story began in “the near future” from its publication in the February 7th, 1917 issue of The Popular Magazine. The narrative drops us into the middle of ongoing events. Sometime earlier, Japan invaded the west coast of the United States.
Japan’s armies have been routing America’s armed forces and multiple tribes of Native Americans have seized the opportunity to try to retake much of their land from both the whites and the Japanese. The story’s central character is a railroad official named Jack Hanley.
Jack runs a railroad station called Gray Grouse in the Rocky Mountains. The Japanese armies have been crossing the Rockies after having conquered everything to the west. Hanley has the rails destroyed in hopes of preventing the approaching enemy from using the railroad.
Jack rides toward Canada, and along the way he must save an American woman from Native Americans. The pair successfully hide in the Canadian mountains for a few years.
Eventually, they emerge from hiding and return to the United States. All of the Americans and the Japanese invaders have been killed off by some form of plague. It’s never clarified if it was unleashed naturally or via biological warfare on the part of the Americans or the Japanese.
Hanley and the woman settle down at his old Gray Grouse train station and eke out an existence in the post-apocalyptic landscape. Roughly 50 years go by with no contact with any other living human beings.
A band of Native Americans approach Gray Grouse, only to discover the long-dead body of Jack Hanley. His wife of sorts apparently died earlier and has been buried outside the station. The Native Americans reflect that their kind are all that remain alive. The land is theirs once more.
The Forgotten Land presents engaging ideas and circumstances, but the lack of more background information is frustrating. I was left curious if other people are still alive in other nations around the world. If so, the Native Americans will be facing a situation similar to the one they faced in the 1500s when those survivors inevitably explore what’s left of the American continent.
This tale is too short to be a truly developed short story, yet too long to be lumped into our modern-day classification of Flash Fiction. The editors of The Popular Magazine ran it as the last item in the issue and printed a statement warning readers that it was “the strangest story” they had ever printed.
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Logged, thank you sir!
Wonderful posts as always. I don’t take much of an interest in ancient science fiction stories, but I found this tale about Native-American tribes fascinating. I have always been fascinated by the shameful history of how Aboriginal people have been treated poorly in America. It’s a tough but important subject that is portrayed in unforgettable movies. For instance, the story “The Forgotten Land” brought to mind “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated film told the true story about the Osage community of Native-Americans that were murdered for their oil resource. One of the best movies of 2023. It was a celebration of Native-American communities in the same vein as “The Forgotten Land”. Scorsese did an exceptional job of honoring Aboriginal stories.
Here’s why it’s a must-see:
Thanks! I’m looking forward to reading your review!
The thoughts of writers are speculative and can often venture into the future. I love early American literature and sci fi.
I agree!
The forgotten Land looking very interesting science fiction book well shared ✋✋
Thank you very much!
💪💪💪🙂↔️🙂↔️🫡🫡🫡
You’re so inventive!
😄😄😄😅😅😲😲😲no one knows it except you this is sad for me 😔
Well, don’t worry! My review will be up by tomorrow!
Thank you 😊🙏 can you put your review in Amazon also ?
I certainly will!
Please do it nah 🙏 if you put your review in Amazon that would be great 😃😃 😁
😀
I have no knowledge about this!! thanks for sharing
I’m glad to do it! Thank you for commenting!
There are so many questions I would like to ask that long ago writer about this!
Gwen.
Me too!