Wondrous Times on the Frontier: America During the 1800s

by Dee Brown

A lively history of the nineteenth-century American West from the #1 New York Times–bestselling “Glorious . . . Do not miss a page.” —Rocky Mountain News Frontier life, Dee Brown writes, “was hard, unpleasant most of the time,” and “ lacking in almost all amenities or creature comforts.” And yet, tall tales were the genre of the day, and humor, both light and dark, was abundant. In this historical account, Brown examines the aspects of the frontier spirit that would come to assume so central a position in American mythology. Split into sections—“Gambling, Violence, and Merriment,” “Lawyers, Newsmen, and Other Professionals,” and “Misunderstood Minorities—it is mindful in its correction of certain stereotypes of Western life, and is a mesmerizing account of an untamed nation and its wild, resilient settlers.    This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Westerns, American History, American, Native American, Travel

423 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

AKA: Dee Alexander Brown

Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown (1908–2002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is widely credited with exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience.

Brown was born in Louisiana and grew up in Arkansas. He worked as a reporter and a printer before enrolling at Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met his future wife, Sally Stroud. He later earned two degrees in library science, and worked as a librarian while beginning his career as a writer. He went on to research and write more than thirty books, often centered on frontier history or overlooked moments of the Civil War. Brown continued writing until his death in 2002.

Reviews

[Koren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to think that if I could go back in time and live in any era it would be the frontier days but this book made me change my mind. Times were pretty tough back then and the author does not sugar coat it. The name of the book must have been meant sarcastically. If you want to know what life was REALLY like back then this is the book for you.

[Genetic Cuckoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with this book, only because I was expecting another incredible book like ‘bury my heart at wounded knee’. This book was far more sedate and dealt almost exclusively with westerner’s experiences of the frontier, with barely a mention of native Americans. This would have been fine it itself, but the cover of my copy has native Americans on horseback in the snow, and so I was expecting them to play a bigger role, which was disappointing.
I learned a lot from this book, and I liked how it broke down the historic information into chapters around a theme. It has certainly ignited my interest to read more books on the history of the frontier, particularly things like the OK corral, which are commonly referenced but I know very little about.
It is always difficult when an author has a worldwide best seller, as they often struggle to keep the audience satisfied with subsequent books. This book is very good, and a fascinating history of the ‘wild west’, focusing on real people’s lives and experiences rather than the Hollywood version of events. I would recommend this book to anything interested in American history, or history generally.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun easy read, of older & freer times that those of us today will never know. full of tall tales, adventures & tragedies that made the legend of the old west.

[Matt Curry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second book by the late great Dee Brown, the first being his classic Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which introduced the world to Western expansion from the perspective of the Native Americans. This is a far different book, yet, like Wounded Knee, it showcases Brown’s rigorous research, attention to detail, and gift for storytelling. Wondrous Times shares stories from the Old West through long forgotten tales - both real and apocryphal - and illustrates how pioneers and Native Americans both found laughter as the best medicine during perilous times. An entertaining read!

[Alison Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book! easy to ready and very entertaining. I like how the author tells tales of all the different people involved in westward expansion

[Candice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping for more from this book. it was terribly boring and boringly written.

[Mike Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts were enjoyable but some was unintelligible for me. I think that Dee Brown kept a file of readings from his research for quite a long time. The readings were from old newspapers, magazines, government documents, memoirs and so on. All these files were then organized into this book. Wild guess, I admit.

But the phrasing and long-lost words made some passages difficult or impossible for me to understand. I found myself wondering if the people of the time understood what they were reading. Perhaps they were accustomed to the vernacular and I’m ignorant of it.

That said, there’s some fun and interesting information here. I enjoy reading diaries and memoirs of the common people who lived in the 1800’s in the American West and this is a nice addition to that collection.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gloriously entertaining

What a great read! Well presented, well organized and presented in a readable and entertaining style, all history should be like this. The author takes each subject by chapter, and presents some entertains and humorous quotes from eye witnesses. We learn of everyone from gamblers to prosit urse, from miners to women. My only regret in finishing this is that our own times will never be chronicled by someone from the future because of our appalling lack of a permanent record.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wondrous Times on the Frontier is a compilation of anecdotes, quotes, and recollections of the 18th century in the western United States. Dee Brown has brought together and organized a broad spectrum of material and organized it into an interesting look at what it was really like during the settlement of the US. It is not the Wild West of cowboy movies and dime novels. It is sometimes funny, sometimes baffling, and sometimes sad. It’s a book one can pick up, read a chapter or two, put down and come back to later.

[Mary Ellen Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good info but not well written. It was pretty much just quotes from original sources with a bare minimum of context. It often lacked dates of the events he related. It is a good source of folktales from the west. I think this author's talents lie in fiction. His non-fiction books seem like a way to monetize his research.

[Tom Sells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read

Great stories from a great writer. You can feel the stories as they are being told. Many amusing adventures and many challenging times. The west was won and America was built one person at a time.

[Larry Kloth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dee Brown writes on various aspects of frontier life, illustrating each by sharing the stories of the people, famous and obscure, who lived it. It is an interesting way to do history. I learned a lot.

[Scott K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lively and informative

This is a fun tour of the greater "Old West" over the course of the 19th century, from the Ozarks to the Rockies and the Great Plains to the Pacific, presented in an easy, conversational style.

[Shaina Hardin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Book has been helpful in painting the picture of the times, specifically detailing the reality of the relationship between the American and the Native American. The lack of formal government and a consistent response to criminality created a land of lawlessness and birthed Frontier Justice.

[Jane K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read this twice because I enjoyed Dee Brown's book Creekside Mary.

Sadly, this book misses the mark for me. Rambles on about absolutely nothing.

[Charles Rackley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book.

This is a somewhat interesting book, but it is not as heart grabbing as "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".

[Bill Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful and highly researched view of the "Wild West" and its characters.
I will stay in the present.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, light read.

[Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uninteresting, I plugged along through about one quarter of it and didn't want to read any more.

[Smel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant! So many funny and interesting stories about a host of characters that inhabited the American West. Definitely a must for people interested in American history!

[Mark Luongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little book of anecdotes about life on the frontier by an excellent historian of the Old West, Dee Brown.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reliable author. If I live long enough I will get around to reading all of his books.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vignettes and exaggerated tales of memorable characters in the Old West. Some amusing stories sprinkled throughout, but was a bit tiring by the end.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. I learned a few things and didn't even feel like I was reading a history book!

[Debi Crawford-Poyner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where were the stories about the women who traveled to and settled the American frontier? I read this book every night for weeks because it was a great sleep inducer.

[Beverly Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Deliteful

Compilation of old western stories about people and places. Some are probably repition of untruths, some make you laugh. in

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written; a fun book to read and enjoy

[Candice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping for a book that would remove the romanticism of western frontier life and provide a rich, informative telling of frontier living. Definitely did not romanticize the era but accomplished little else. One thing it did succeed at was to give the reader some hint that for all the attempt to show how laughter existed, what was considered funny and how "jokes" were executed leads one to conclude that frontier life was, indeed, harsh, tedious, and monotonous. Many of the practical jokes were crude, violent, and sadistic - it left me feeling sad that humor could only be found by creating a victim in a worse situation than everyone else.

There is no chronology or spatial reference (by town, region, etc.). Instead the book is loosely organized by demographic categories: lawyers, cowboys, miners, etc., which didn't add any real value because it hopped around both time and place. The time period is mostly from 1850's to 1890's based on memoirs and newspaper articles. Did the type of humor change as time went by? Were practical jokes universally "funny"?

My impression is Dee Brown, through the years of research on other topics, collected enough material that could be construed as humorous and published it. The first two-thirds of the book was so repetitive in its attempt to prove "humor" was alive and well in the frontier that it became boring- like hearing the same joke told at least a dozen times by different people. YAWN! The last third, Dee Brown's writing style makes a abrupt change to his familiar rehashing of reference material with plenty of citations.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave a pretty good glimpse into what life on the frontier was like. It was not one of my favorite books of the year, but I was determined to learn more about United States History, and this was a good one for that. He was well researched and the material was presented in a manner that was engaging. It was a decent read.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very good book about the diversity of the Old West frontier. There were settlers, pioneers, farmers, ranchers, Indian tribes, trappers, outlaws and everything in between.