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Trespassing: An Inquiry Into the Private Ownership of Land
How did we come to adopt the strange notion of owning land?an exploration by one of Americas finest nature writers.. In this richly entertaining story that reaches back to the beginning of British common law and up to the most recent Supreme Court takings decisions, John Mitchell reveals how we came to accept a system of private ownership. Building upon the heartbreaking story of a tribe of praying Indians who bought into the colonists legal system and settled their own 2000-acre tract, only to be dispossessed and herded into a detention camp, he explores every variation on this important theme. }In this richly entertaining story that reaches back to the beginning of British common law and up to the most recent Supreme Court takings decisions, John Mitchell reveals how we came to accept a system of private ownership. Building upon the heartbreaking story of a tribe of praying Indians who bought into the colonists legal system and settled their own 2000-acre tract, only to be dispossessed and herded into a detention camp, he explores every variation on this important theme. An hilarious visit to the Mitchell ancestral manor in Scotland, a brilliant panorama of the single vast grid into which we carved the great plains and mountains of the West, a surreal excursion to a Native American reservation now developed into a mammoth casino, and suspenseful encounters between developers and conservationiststhese are among the highlights of a truly original and timely book. }
- GenresNonfictionHistory
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1998
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66 people want to read
About the author
John Hanson Mitchell
31 books10 followersAuthor of six books dealing with the experince of place and natural history. Most recent book is The Paradise of al These Parts: A natural history of Boston (Beacon Press 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 14, 2019
What makes this something close to a perfect book? The first thing is its pace: it is like a walk in the woods with someone who knows a lot about local nature and history, and also knows what he doesn’t know, which doesn’t, fortunately, stop him from asking questions and speculating. He’s not a know-it-all, but he is a gossip, and it is through gossip as well as encounters that we get to know many of the people who live on or affect the square mile of land northwest of Boston that this book focuses on.
The second thing is the mixing of present, near past, and layers of pasts going back to the first Puritans who moved onto this land, and before.
The third thing is that the stories are presented against the theme of the book’s title (this is far from the treatise it sounds like). The Native American view of land as a commons with rights of use is contrasted against the English view of land as owned, handed down, and sold outright, as well as other views, including those of local farmers, conservationists, zoning boards, and a local co-housing group.
The fourth thing is the narrative tone, one that combines a love of nature, annoyance and bemusement with the present (people-wise), and a nostalgia that recognizes that in many ways things were far worse in the past. Even in the distant past, before the English came, the tribe that lived on the square mile lived in dire fear of the Mohawks.
The fifth and probably most important thing is the book’s eclecticism, that is, the way the author mixes everything up — nature, farming, walking through the land, treatment of Indians, speculations about the past, real estate development, encounters with people. And the way the author repeats himself, doesn’t spell everything out, and makes transitions that shouldn’t work, but usually do. There’s a self-confidence here that is well grounded. Perhaps this is what makes for great literature and nonfiction.
I rarely disagree with other reviewers, but I seriously disagree with the only review of this book, which might cause others to pass this book by. Alex is disappointed that Mitchell's "rich and detailed descriptions of nature and rural culture clashed sharply with speculative and loose conjectures about the life of key 'character' and historically important native figure." I think there's no clash at all. We know so much more about nature than we can know about how a people without writing lived. And it is because we don't have many details of their story that I disagree with Alex about Mitchell telling a story "he doesn't have rights to." Mitchell told a story we rarely hear about in a way that is sympathetic and yet realistic rather than patronizing. And he did it with a great deal of skill, which is the only reason this book is still available. He has rights to the story because he cares, because he has done his research, and because he can get the story out there.
The second thing is the mixing of present, near past, and layers of pasts going back to the first Puritans who moved onto this land, and before.
The third thing is that the stories are presented against the theme of the book’s title (this is far from the treatise it sounds like). The Native American view of land as a commons with rights of use is contrasted against the English view of land as owned, handed down, and sold outright, as well as other views, including those of local farmers, conservationists, zoning boards, and a local co-housing group.
The fourth thing is the narrative tone, one that combines a love of nature, annoyance and bemusement with the present (people-wise), and a nostalgia that recognizes that in many ways things were far worse in the past. Even in the distant past, before the English came, the tribe that lived on the square mile lived in dire fear of the Mohawks.
The fifth and probably most important thing is the book’s eclecticism, that is, the way the author mixes everything up — nature, farming, walking through the land, treatment of Indians, speculations about the past, real estate development, encounters with people. And the way the author repeats himself, doesn’t spell everything out, and makes transitions that shouldn’t work, but usually do. There’s a self-confidence here that is well grounded. Perhaps this is what makes for great literature and nonfiction.
I rarely disagree with other reviewers, but I seriously disagree with the only review of this book, which might cause others to pass this book by. Alex is disappointed that Mitchell's "rich and detailed descriptions of nature and rural culture clashed sharply with speculative and loose conjectures about the life of key 'character' and historically important native figure." I think there's no clash at all. We know so much more about nature than we can know about how a people without writing lived. And it is because we don't have many details of their story that I disagree with Alex about Mitchell telling a story "he doesn't have rights to." Mitchell told a story we rarely hear about in a way that is sympathetic and yet realistic rather than patronizing. And he did it with a great deal of skill, which is the only reason this book is still available. He has rights to the story because he cares, because he has done his research, and because he can get the story out there.
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February 19, 2015unlike in Scotland, where you can walk anywhere just as long as you close the gate.
January 16, 2022
Not a scholarly book of legal theory: that's a good thing. The author is the one trespassing, onto fields, ponds and wooded lots around his home in Massachusetts. He lives near the site of an old Native American area which is now private and public holdings. The recorded history goes back into the mid-17nth Century. The author also incorporates what is known ( as well as speculated ) about the native peoples. His purpose includes marking the cultural and practical difference between the Native American's idea of land held in common with the newly developing European idea of private property which followed the end of the feudal system. His preference is the former, which justifies his traipsing around his home. Here we find the elderly farmers and land managers that relate the history of Native Americans last village, and the history of the agrarians that followed. He cannot hide his affection and admiration for the last exemplars of that generation as developers move into his surroundings.
The result is part travelogue into his area's past and part memoir that aims toward drawing the elderly characters of his neighborhood before they too would pass into an obscured, easy forgotten past.
There are times when the narrative flags with too much history crammed into a small number of pages. And while the stories are told in a recurring, circular fashion, which is indisputably necessary, I feel the author at times cuts me adrift, and I lose the sense of where we have been. So to my mind this is not facile reading, but it is rewarding.
The result is part travelogue into his area's past and part memoir that aims toward drawing the elderly characters of his neighborhood before they too would pass into an obscured, easy forgotten past.
There are times when the narrative flags with too much history crammed into a small number of pages. And while the stories are told in a recurring, circular fashion, which is indisputably necessary, I feel the author at times cuts me adrift, and I lose the sense of where we have been. So to my mind this is not facile reading, but it is rewarding.
February 18, 2024
I led a discussion about this book recently with a book group in Utah that I am a member of. If you have ever been curious about the origins of land ownership or, if you find yourself sometimes irritated with situations where private interests hold land which seems significant enough that it ought to be publicly controlled and accessible, you may benefit from reading it.
It's a very readable book written in a style similar to Robert MacFarlane's The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. It's centered on a 500-acre parcel of land not far from Boston which once belonged to Pawtucket Indians and on its history. It's sprinkled with lots of conversations with the people he runs into round and about while exploring this land and anecdotes from local history.
I hope that those who read it will be encouraged to continue studying and learning about this strange situation where mortal humans being can own and control the land underneath their feet and, in many situations, transform that land completely and irrevocably.
Zoning laws can, in many cases, place reasonable limits on development. But it's disheartening to witness so many situations where one person's will overrides the will of many others who would prefer to preserve historic downtowns or iconic landscapes, robbing future generations of experiencing these things for themselves.
It's a very readable book written in a style similar to Robert MacFarlane's The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. It's centered on a 500-acre parcel of land not far from Boston which once belonged to Pawtucket Indians and on its history. It's sprinkled with lots of conversations with the people he runs into round and about while exploring this land and anecdotes from local history.
I hope that those who read it will be encouraged to continue studying and learning about this strange situation where mortal humans being can own and control the land underneath their feet and, in many situations, transform that land completely and irrevocably.
Zoning laws can, in many cases, place reasonable limits on development. But it's disheartening to witness so many situations where one person's will overrides the will of many others who would prefer to preserve historic downtowns or iconic landscapes, robbing future generations of experiencing these things for themselves.
November 9, 2018
The highlight of this book for me was Mitchell's obvious love of the deep woods of Massachusetts, woods which are beloved to me as well. Disappointingly, his rich and detailed descriptions of nature and rural culture clashed sharply with speculative and loose conjectures about the life of key "character" and historically important native figure, Sarah Doublet. Ironically contrasted against a debate of collective vs. private, I repeatedly felt that Mitchell was telling us a story he didn't have the rights to.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews