5 comments about History of Wyoming (Second Edition).

1. I bought this book to add more to my upcoming trip to Wyoming in October. I was hoping to read exciting stories from Wyoming's past like the adventures of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. However, this book is very encyclopedic and dry in its presentation of Wyoming's data. The information on the weather will be handy, but I could have done without the pages upon pages of data on soil composition and historical costs of cattle. This book is certainly full of information, just don't expect to be entertained by it.



2. I could not disagree more with the other reviewer who opined that it was encyclopedic but not exciting reading.

   Larson certainly has researched his subject very well and could easily be stated as the Dean Of Wyo History. As this is a comprehensive history up to the Post WWII era, the author by necessity touches on every area, yet leaves some at the macro stage where one wishes for more. This is well supplemented with a thorough annotated bibliographic section for further research.

   From its frontier routes with the Natives and mountain men to the explorers and natural resource, railroad and ranching industries which comprise this land, Larson weaves a tale which engages the interested reader and keeps your interest growing.

   The book is equally divided from its beginnings and overall description and then section two of the 19th C. on.

   A treasure of a state history. It must be added also that the line drawings by Brodie are very nice!




3. T.A. Larson -- known in fine Western fashion by his initials -- has written the official, scholarly history of Wyoming filling a huge gap in published literature about the state. Primary source material about Wyoming abounds, but few of us have the time or training to find it and then plow through it to make sense of it. Anecdotal information and imagined histories are also widely available, but few of those are reliable if you want accuracy or even the slightest bit of objectivity. Places built on myth -- and Wyoming was born of a number of them -- are wonderful, but they shouldn't be exempt from a more scholarly treatment like this. There are plenty of guidebooks, such as "The Wyoming Handbook" in the series published by Moon, that give you historical "color". But for a fuller, more realistic picture of this fascinating place, Larson is definitive.



4. This is a superb single volume on the history of the State of Wyoming. I have not had the time to finish it yet, it's a large book, but I can't put it down. This is a must for anyone researching American history and I can recommend it.



5. I have not read this book but as I was looking to purchase it I used Amazon's excellent preview features to search the contents. In a short time I discovered several serious errors. One of the most egregious was saying that Otto, Wyoming was settled by Mormons. It was not. Otto was the first town in the Big Horn Basin and was the home of the inestimable early Wyoming physician, Dr. Hale. After Otto lost the vote for county seat of the newly formed Big Horn County, the original settlers largely moved away. This was accelerated when the town was inundated by a spring flood of the Greybull River. The town was then moved to its current location where it has since been largely populated by Mormons. (The original Otto site is now a farmer's field which is infinitely more attractive than the "new" Otto.)
   
   Readers interested in a fascinating history of northwestern Wyoming might try to find a copy of Carla Loveland's Sagebrush and Roses which I believe is now out of print and was never available through Amazon.com. I found a copy at the surprisingly good library in Cody, Wyoming and was able to purchase a copy by contacting the city of Burlington, Wyoming who put me in touch with the author. Among other things, Loveland documents the charming pre-Mormon history of Otto which includes rangeland murders, frontier medicine, practical jokes, and music.
   
   Larson also errs on some of the canal-building history and so on. Though an avid student of Wyoming history, in the end, I chose not to buy.

No comments about Schoolwomen of the Prairies and Plains: Personal Narratives from Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, 1860S-1920s.

2 comments about Nebraska: An Illustrated History (Great Plains Photography).

1. 
   An oversized, very handsomely illustrated history of Nebraska. There is some text, but the emphasis is on the photographs depicting various time periods in the state's development. There are 5 major sections: before statehood, the fledgling state, the emergence of modern Nebraska (1890-1930), drought and war (1930-1970), and the most recent technological era (1970-present). The photos are far-ranging and include famous people, forts, Native Americans, early town and city growth, natural formations, Dust Bowl scenes, cowboy and farm life, and the most recent developments. It's a fun book to look at and would grace anyone's coffeetable, Cornhusker or otherwise.



2. This is a great resource if you teach Nebraska history. If you think you're getting in-depth info, look elsewhere. There are plenty of good pictures in here and each chapter has about 2-3 pages of writing so it's nice to read before bed.

No comments about A Country Between: The Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774.

No comments about Women's Oral History: The Frontiers Reader.

No comments about The American West Transformed: The Impact of the Second World War.

2 comments about The Fur Trade of the American West: A Geographical Synthesis.

1. it explains the fur trade of the american west



2. Mr. Wishart provides an excellent introduction the Fur Trade. This book provides an overview of the Fur Trade and a thorough explanation of the different types of fur trading systems that existed during the early part of the nineteenth century.
   
   As the subtitle of the book indicates, Mr. Wishart spends a fair amount of time providing the geographical background of the Rockies and the river systems that flow out of mountains. The book is generously provided with maps. These maps help to provide clarity to the subject at hand and also greatly increase the reader's understanding of how and why the fur trade developed.
   
   I really don't have any quibbles with this book---except that I wished it was longer! The chapters are extensively footnoted and there is a very good bibliography. If you are looking for an introduction to the fur trade, I would greatly recommend this book!

2 comments about The Cattle Towns.

1. "One of the most intelligent, interesting, and worthwhile contributions to the field of Western history in some time. [The author] has managed to say something rather basic about American culture in general." -- William H. Goetzmann. "Excellent . . . readable and persuasive. . . . One of the most refreshing and rewarding approaches to be applied to western history topics in many years, for [the author] is asking basic questions about social process and the nature of urban society." -- Howard Roberts Lamar.



2. In The Cattle Towns, Robert Dykstra demonstrates how five Kansas towns--Dodge City, Ellsworth, Caldwell, Abilene, and Wichita--developed through a complex set of conflicts that bred progress. Instead of adding to the frontier myth of wild and violent cattle towns, Dykstra builds upon studies of urban history and applies them to the developing frontier to create a local, social history that has national relevance.
   
   Success or failure of a town depended on a number of variables including location, promotion, and people. Location as related to the county center, railroad lines, and especially for this study, cattle trails, played major roles in determining town futures. Advertisements in newspapers located between the Kansas cattle towns and the source of the cattle herds in Texas lured the trail drivers north. The most important element in the future of the cattle towns, however, was the local population.
   
   Although the town newspapers often gave the impression that residents of the town and surrounding areas spoke in a unified voice, that was usually not the case. Disagreements between businessmen and rural folk, ranchers and farmers, natives and foreign-born, and reformers and vice practitioners were frequent. Dykstra contradicts earlier studies that claimed successful town development on mutual cooperation and shows how progress was made through such differences.
   
   The differences over town policy provided a forum for area residents to discuss the future vision of their town. Whether the discussion was over alcohol, gambling, prostitution, or the movement of the splenic flu deadline, the result was an exchange of ideas focused on improving the town. Town businessmen, for example, sympathized with the reformers who sought to improve the moral values of the town by eliminating vices, but not at the financial cost of losing the trail drivers who were attracted by such vices and spent their funds liberally throughout town.
   
   Due to the advancement of technology and the progression of settlers into the once open Kansas frontier, the cattle towns shifted their focus from cattle to the more consistent industry of agriculture. The westward movement of settlers altered the routes of cattle drives away from towns like Abilene and Dodge City and railroads continued to expand their coverage, removing these towns from the cattle industry. Despite the moral vices that accompanied it, the cattle industry between 1867 and 1885 helped provide an immediate economic base that developed towns and laid the groundwork for future success.
   
   Utilizing information from period newspapers, letters, maps, government documents, and previous studies, Dykstra creates a well-written study that explores urban aspirations and rivalry in a frontier setting. By examining the motivations of individuals and groups in the cattle towns, Dykstra has made a valuable contribution to town building on the changing frontier.

No comments about Invisible Genealogies: A History of Americanist Anthropology (Critical Studies in the History of Anthropology).

5 comments about The Great Plains.

1. In the mid-1930s, this book won the Loubat Prize as the best work published over a five year period. In 1950, a national panel of historians selected The Great Plains as the most significant historical work by a living author. This book continues to receive attention as reflected in the bibliographies of current books dealing with aspects of the American West.

   In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner's essay "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," outlined his Frontier Theory. Turner asserted that the frontier was the decisive factor in creating an American nation distinct from other nations; that the frontier created dominant traits of individualism, freedom, materialism, originality, et. al. Turner called the frontier a "safety valve" of abundant resources which shopuld be exploited for the benefit of the national good. Turner's theory foresaw progress from the simple to the complex.

   Webb's "The Great Plains" modifies Turner's theory by pointing out the steady progression of settlement westward from the timbered and well watered Atlantic Coast to the edge of the Great Plains; the 98th Meridian, an "institutional fault line." Webb contended the great plains were neglected until all lands that were timbered and well watered were taken; that pioneers "jumped" across to the Pacific Slope where they could also employ long-standing techniques that had been successful in the East.

   Not until the post Civil War era were pioneers able to settle the great plains (characteristics: a level surface, an absence of timber, and a deficiency of rainfall), and then only by drastically altering or changing their previous frontier techniques. According to Webb, westerners on the great plains became progressive because they relied upon change in order to overcome their harsh environment. The pioneer used what was given him and the results astonished the world.

   Great plains pioneers had to build houses without timber, burn fires without wood, carve furrows in soil so matted and tough an ordinary wood or iron plow would snag in the sod or skitter across its surface like a stick over ice, draw water from an arid or semi-arid land, and grow crops that could exist with little water. Webb contends adaptation and innovation in the development and use of new or existing products and techniques allowed the hardy pioneers to conquer their environment. In essence, often reverting from the complex to the simple - "geographic reality."

   This book is interesting and easily read. Webb's research ranges from the Indians, Spaniards, Americans, cattle, and water - encompassing the esoteric and the simple. For example, he delves into the Land Law of the West, in all its complexity (written by Webb 68 years ago) and the parallel and distinct differences in sign language used by deaf mutes and the plains Indians.

   Webb's scholarly research is reflected in the extensive bibliography that follows each chapter. The index is useful and annotated to identify areas of relationship when warranted.

   The accolades given this book over the years is well deserved. Webb's innovative study is fascinating and expands the reader's knowledge of the great plains as it contains a wealth of information on the history of the region. Webb's later book "The Great Frontier" was also influential and controversial. Both books are the hallmark of Walter Prescott Webb's long and distinguished career.




2. So many people use the cliche "this is the best book I've ever read" when critiquing it. I mean it. This book, 70 years old this year, is a brilliant historical work. Webb calls the 98th meridian an "institutional fault line" that required alteration or abandonment of all the laws and implements used in pioneering east of the line. Webb offers the windmill, the six-shooter, and barbed wire as three examples of inventive genius that allowed pioneers to settle on the Great Plains. Webb cites Eastern land laws, as well as the old English common law, as impractical when used on the Plains. Interestingly, Webb states that the West was lawless in part because settlers had to disobey these impractical land laws in order to survive on the Plains. Webb examines the Great Plains from a multitude of angles to substantiate his thesis. He successfully defends it, and in the process creates a work that is of great interest to people from many walks of life.



3. We traveled across Wyoming, down the Colorado-Nebraska border, crossed the narrow panhandle of Oklahoma, and continued southward through the high plains to Amarillo and Lubbock. It was long day. Temperatures reached 106 degrees. Our return from Wyoming to east Texas is never easy.
   
   The great plains are awesome, stretching forever in all directions. Barb wire fences, lonely windmills, widely scattered cattle, and some isolated ranch and farm houses are among the few landmarks. How did the early pioneers react to this vast barrier extending from Mexico to Canada?
   
   Walter Prescott Webb's acclaimed history, The Great Plains, is a fascinating examination of how our extensive plains shaped American history. For more than two hundred years settlers had pushed westward, largely along navigable rivers, and tamed a wilderness with the axe, the plow, and the rifle. But in the mid-1800s this westward movement encountered a new world, a vast expanse lacking forest, navigable rivers, and adequate rainfall. The lessons of the past few centuries proved irrelevant in this new, formidable wilderness.
   
   Webb argues that the Spanish (and later the Mexicans) failure to colonize the area that is now western United States was due to their inability to defeat the plains Indians, especially the Apaches and Comanches in Texas. Travel from San Antonio to Santa Fe was not easy; the route was southward deep into Mexico to Durango and then back west and northward to Santa Fe. The direct route westward across the plains was Indian country.
   
   As the American settlers ventured onto the plains after the Civil War, they were aided by an explosion of innovations, especially the Samuel Colt revolver (tipped the balance away from the Indians), the barb wire fence (made fencing possible), and the self-operating windmill (made water available). And the railroads made freight and livestock transportation possible between the sparsely populated great plains and the populated, industrialized eastern states.
   
   Webb describes in exciting detail the short, remarkable period of the cowboys, the cattle drives, and the cattle barons. Indelibly engraved on the American psyche, this period was already history by 1930 as Webb offered his insightful thoughts on the settlement of our mid-continent.
   
   I can think of only one other history of the American West that compares with this remarkable work, and that is that great book by Ray Allen Billington, Westward Expansion. Before your next travel across our endless plains, I encourage you to read Walter Prescott Webb's fascinating history of The Great Plains.



4. I've lived most of my 57 years on the plains, but enough elsewhere to understand specific differences; yet this book, written in 1931, taught me an abundance of information which I'd never known but which helped me empathize with the backdrop of my ancestors, and the competitive cultures on the plains. How the East failed to understand the implications of the plains topographical and climatic distinctives abounds yet today. So much senseless and ill-fitted government policy was applied to the plains, yet this book prophetically enables us to comprehen why past and present issues continue to be mishandled, water, foremost of these. It's unfortunate that wise water management has not progressed since his time in the same way that dryland farming practices have.
   
   'How we got here' is what Webb will tell you in the most insightful fashion. I reread many paragraphs, not because I didn't understand them, but because his language was packed with so much meaning, not a superfluous word one, I wanted to savor it again.



5. Couldn't put the book down. Excellent author who carries the story along with gusto. Full of references and detail about all aspects of the Great Plains. A book for everyone no matter that their interest might not have included the great plains.