Welcome, and thank you for visiting FortTours.com. We realize that integrity, trust, and reliability are more important now than ever. That's why our authorship team prioritizes detail, clarity, and accuracy in every freshly published piece you see on our site.
A word from editor Michael Trevis...
My aim is to go the extra mile for our readership every time I publish a piece, be it of historical, military, or travel interest. No compromises are made and no corners are cut in delivering the freshest and most comprehensive insight possible on a topic.
In many ways, this website is a reflection of my own personal interests and hobbies. American history and military life are both dear to my heart. I have been a researcher and educator for most of my life and take great pride in my work. I'm also a keen travel enthusiast. As you can imagine, it's truly a blessing when I get to combine my passions and write about my trips and the fascinating history they entail!
FortTours.com Publishing Ethos
I was primarily motivated to start this website to share my own research and travel with a keen audience. However, I'm also determined to upend what I believe is today's broken model of web publishing.
In travel, for instance, many have become reliant on reading reviews generated by casual web users. Although valuable, this type of information often lacks clarity and depth. My trip reports are designed to offer an unrivaled level of comprehensiveness and detail -- helping you to feel present and prepared for your own travel adventures.
Meanwhile, my military-related guides prioritize up-to-date research and a multitude of important perspectives, to ensure you get the whole story.
Without further ado, welcome, and I'm pleased to have you along for the journey.
Michael TrevisFortTours.com Editor & Publisher
A Note on our Historical Archives
It's important to take note of our advice below on how to best use our site's historical resources. Although we're delighted to have you on this journey, you will derive greater usefulness from our archives by understanding how and why we publish what we do.
How to use this website
Our North American historical archives contain thousands of pages of carefully sourced material. Much of our team's work is based on archival research and the principles of a sound historical method. Objectivity is critical to us and we avoid revising source materials so as to censor language or downplay the suffering and loss caused by conflict in all its forms.
This leads me to another important point — although feedback from readers is overwhelmingly positive, we occasionally receive emails expressing anger at the way in which source materials depict the events of the American Indian Wars. Some concerned readers feel that contemporary accounts of European settlers wrongly frame the events of these conflicts as just and rightful.
Our decision to publish any given resource should never be interpreted as an endorsement of the views expressed within. Of course, we could modify and censor material or not publish them at all. The reason we do not change any source is straightforward: playing down events and removing controversial language does no justice to those who lost everything during the course of war.
The resources on our website help us to understand, dissect, and critique the attitudes of settlers, which cannot be done if those materials are sanitized for our audience. Accounts of historical events are colored by the biases of the storyteller. The accounts we publish are not told by us, the editors, nor are they told by Native Americans, but primarily by European settlers. That doesn't mean they are necessarily invalid or inaccurate, only that they should be considered in the context of a wider picture.
Bottom line: as a historical resource, FortTours.com's archives should form part but not all of your research regarding North America's complicated past. This principle holds true across all journeys of education and learning. Historical events are best understood when absorbed from a multitude of perspectives.
As a starting point, titles such as The American Indian Wars: Explore the Conflict and Tragedy from Beginning to End by Brent Schulte and The Earth Is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West by Peter Cozzens are excellent launchpads for learning more about the loss and struggle faced by Native American communities during these damaging wars.
Editorial policy
Once again, please note that the presence of source materials on FortTours.com in no way implies the endorsement of those accounts by our team. To edit and censor sources in order to make them more palatable for a modern audience would be to downplay the suffering of the victims.
Intrusive analysis inevitably leads to narrow perspectives on broad and complicated events. We believe that a diverse cross-section of contemporary accounts offers the best insight into the history that shaped the nation we know today.
Who we support and why
Nuance can easily be lost in the midst of divisive modern debates. We can consider ourselves patriots and still have the bravery to admit the failings and wrongdoings of the past. The scars of conflict ripple through the generations and play a critical role in determining the distribution of privilege and opportunity even today.
We are firm supporters of social justice causes and encourage readers to lend their support and donations to the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). We also strongly believe in lending our helping hand to the wonderful men and women who honorably serve in the United States Armed Forces. Non-profits including Homes for our Troops and the National Military Family Association do a tremendous job in this role.
Affiliate disclosure
A very small percentage of links on our website are "affiliate links." We use these on occasion when recommending a service that we have rigorously vetted and endorsed. If you click on one of these links and make an eligible purchase, we may receive a small commission from the vendor. This comes at no additional cost to you.
Final words...
Again, thank you all for being part of this adventure with us. We're delighted to have you here and welcome any and all feedback.
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