atives ▁of ▁individual ▁undert ak ings ▁in ▁the ▁Revolution , ▁Indian ▁capt iv ities ▁and ▁other ▁prisoner ▁experiences , ▁gathered ▁by ▁the ▁writer ▁direct ▁from ▁the ▁hero ▁whose ▁advent ures ▁he ▁wrote ▁down ... ▁without ▁apparent ▁per version ▁or ▁ex agger ation ." ▁ ▁Pri est ▁recorded ▁stories ▁of ▁Native ▁American ▁at roc ities ▁against ▁white ▁sett lers ▁that ▁otherwise ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁forgotten . ▁ ▁However , ▁his ▁selection ▁of ▁stories ▁was ▁bi ased ▁towards ▁port ray als ▁of ▁Native ▁Americans ▁as ▁violent . ▁ ▁Crit ic isms ▁and ▁legacy ▁Crit ics ▁dismiss ▁Pri est ' s ▁books ▁as ▁comp il ations ▁of ▁poor ly ▁supported ▁theories ▁motiv ated ▁by ▁rac ism . ▁Robert ▁Silver berg ▁notes , ▁" The ▁argument ▁he ▁construct s ▁is ▁built ▁on ▁literal ▁interpret ations ▁of ▁Bib lic al ▁pass ages ▁mixed ▁with ▁popular ▁pseudo - sch olar ly ▁views ▁and ▁gross ▁mis read ings ▁of ▁related ▁texts ." ▁ ▁Pri est ▁was ▁known ▁for ▁integr ating ▁many ▁types ▁of ▁sources ▁into ▁his ▁writ ings , ▁seeking ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁s embl ance ▁of ▁authority ▁and ▁cred ibility ▁for ▁a ▁popular ▁audience . ▁Pri est ' s ▁fant astic ▁assert ions ▁persist ▁today ▁in ▁the ▁works ▁of ▁pseud os cience , ▁pseud oh istory , ▁and ▁New ▁Age ▁pop ▁culture . ▁In ▁this ▁respect , ▁he ▁can ▁be ▁considered ▁a ▁pione er ▁in ▁popular ▁but ▁highly ▁err one ous ▁publishing . ▁ ▁The ▁popular ity ▁of ▁his ▁works ▁allowed ▁Americans ▁of ▁his ▁time ▁to ▁indul ge ▁in