The Conquest

The novel narrates the story of Micheaux, who bears the same name as its famous author, and his struggles to become a successful homesteader in Dakota. Largely autobiographical, the novel provides an insight into the lesser known history of the American Wild West where even the Black pioneers were surviving and fighting against the tough and unforgiving terrain. Read on! Excerpt: 'I was born twenty-nine years ago near the Ohio River, about forty miles above Cairo, the fourth son and fifth child of a family of thirteen, by the name of Devereaux-which, of course, is not my name but we will call it that for this sketch. It is a peculiar name that ends with an 'eaux,' however, and is considered an odd name for a colored man to have, unless he is from Louisiana where the French crossed with the Indians and slaves, causing many Louisiana negroes to have the French names and many speak the French language also. My father, however, came from Kentucky and inherited the name from his father who was sold off into Texas during the slavery period and is said to be living there today. He was a farmer and owned eighty acres of land and was, therefore, considered fairly 'well-to-do,' that is, for a colored man. The county in which we lived bordered on the river some twenty miles, and took its name from an old fort that used to do a little cannonading for the Federal forces back in the Civil War...'

Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) was an African-American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled by Black filmmakers, Micheaux is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, a prominent producer of race film, and has been described as 'the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century'. He produced both silent films and sound films.