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The American frontier: pioneers, settlers, and cowboys, 1800–1899
In The American Frontier, historian William C. Davis masterfully chronicles the history of the territory beyond the Mississippi, with particular attention to exploration, expansion, conflict, and settlement. In 1804 the frontier of the "West of opportunity" was St. Louis, from which Lewis and Clark set out on their journey of discovery. Their first bold steps provided the key to the greatest adventure of them all, inspiring the emergence of a nation in a momentous century of migration and settlement.
Attention turned to the Southwest after Mexico broke free of Spain in 1821. In the next two decades both Texas and California fought to be free of Mexican rule, receiving recognition as republics in their own right. These years also saw the slow spread westward, marked by the Mormons in Utah, the '49ers in California, and the development of stage routes, railways, and other overland trails. Butterfield, Wells Fargo, and Pony Express are names redolent of this age.
With the end of the Civil War, in 1865, people of all nations and tongues spread to the West. The story Davis tells is above all one of land and people: the vast plains between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains; the pioneers, trappers, entrepreneurs, buffalo hunters, miners, soldiers, gamblers, cowboys, lawmen, gunfighters – people prepared to fight hostile elements to create a place for themselves; and the Indians of the Great Plains, whose land was usurped and who ultimately would be displaced.
The American Frontier portrays their lives through artifacts from the collection of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming. Gathered and displayed for the first time in more than thirty outstanding color spreads, they provide a timely, memorable evocation of frontier America, showing both the legend and the reality of the West as it has never been seen before.
William C. Davis is the author or editor of more than thirty books on the American Civil War and Southern History, among them The Battlefields of the Civil War and The Fighting Men of the Civil War, both published by University of Oklahoma Press. For many years editor and publisher of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated, he was a consultant for the Arts and Entertainment Network's "Civil War Journal" and the CBS miniseries "The Blue and the Gray". Russ A. Pritchard serves on the Board of Governors for the Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia, and is a consultant for the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond.
Attention turned to the Southwest after Mexico broke free of Spain in 1821. In the next two decades both Texas and California fought to be free of Mexican rule, receiving recognition as republics in their own right. These years also saw the slow spread westward, marked by the Mormons in Utah, the '49ers in California, and the development of stage routes, railways, and other overland trails. Butterfield, Wells Fargo, and Pony Express are names redolent of this age.
With the end of the Civil War, in 1865, people of all nations and tongues spread to the West. The story Davis tells is above all one of land and people: the vast plains between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains; the pioneers, trappers, entrepreneurs, buffalo hunters, miners, soldiers, gamblers, cowboys, lawmen, gunfighters – people prepared to fight hostile elements to create a place for themselves; and the Indians of the Great Plains, whose land was usurped and who ultimately would be displaced.
The American Frontier portrays their lives through artifacts from the collection of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming. Gathered and displayed for the first time in more than thirty outstanding color spreads, they provide a timely, memorable evocation of frontier America, showing both the legend and the reality of the West as it has never been seen before.
William C. Davis is the author or editor of more than thirty books on the American Civil War and Southern History, among them The Battlefields of the Civil War and The Fighting Men of the Civil War, both published by University of Oklahoma Press. For many years editor and publisher of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated, he was a consultant for the Arts and Entertainment Network's "Civil War Journal" and the CBS miniseries "The Blue and the Gray". Russ A. Pritchard serves on the Board of Governors for the Civil War Library and Museum, Philadelphia, and is a consultant for the Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
William C. Davis
319 books94 followersCurrently professor of history at Virginia Tech, William C. Davis has written over fifty books, most about the American Civil War. He has won the Jefferson Davis Prize for southern history three times, the Jules F. Landry Award for Southern history once, and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
For several years, he was the editor of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated. He has also served as a consultant on the A&E television series Civil War Journal.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
For several years, he was the editor of the magazine Civil War Times Illustrated. He has also served as a consultant on the A&E television series Civil War Journal.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 14, 2018
Sono esistite persone convinte che se l’Onnipotente fosse stato pittore, il West americano sarebbe stata la Sua tela.
«Ecco la frontiera americana che avanza verso ovest dall’Atlantico al Pacifico: èuna storia di rapacità, di violenza e di tragedia, unita all’epica e al trionfo, narrata da uno dei più brillanti scritori di storia americana.» (Robert Utley, autore di The Indian Frontier of the American West).
La scoperta del West, Cercando l’occasione, Politica e Frontiera, Rossi contro Bianchi, Comunità di frontiera, Delitto & Castigo, Vita sul pascolo, La fine del vecchio West. Questi i capitoli nei quali si articola questo che io ritengo essere, insieme a “Indiani d’America. Tribù, storia, cultura, vita quotidiana” , uno dei più completi libri sull’epopea del West. Dove la Storia viene raccontata con serenità di giudizio ed una dovizie di avvenimenti, notizie, mappe, e centinaia di foto e riproduzioni di uomini, armi, mezzi di trasporto, abbigliamento, costruzioni, allevamento, alimentazione, cultura e mille altri aspetti che hanno contribuito alla costruzione del Mito della Frontiera.
Grande formato, 26x34 cm., risultato eccellente.
«Ecco la frontiera americana che avanza verso ovest dall’Atlantico al Pacifico: èuna storia di rapacità, di violenza e di tragedia, unita all’epica e al trionfo, narrata da uno dei più brillanti scritori di storia americana.» (Robert Utley, autore di The Indian Frontier of the American West).
La scoperta del West, Cercando l’occasione, Politica e Frontiera, Rossi contro Bianchi, Comunità di frontiera, Delitto & Castigo, Vita sul pascolo, La fine del vecchio West. Questi i capitoli nei quali si articola questo che io ritengo essere, insieme a “Indiani d’America. Tribù, storia, cultura, vita quotidiana” , uno dei più completi libri sull’epopea del West. Dove la Storia viene raccontata con serenità di giudizio ed una dovizie di avvenimenti, notizie, mappe, e centinaia di foto e riproduzioni di uomini, armi, mezzi di trasporto, abbigliamento, costruzioni, allevamento, alimentazione, cultura e mille altri aspetti che hanno contribuito alla costruzione del Mito della Frontiera.
Grande formato, 26x34 cm., risultato eccellente.
October 27, 2015
The book The American Frontier is very inspirational. His talking about the west expansion over to California is just amazing. He presents the West as a new world, as Lewis and Clark discover this beautiful land. The History time line from Lewis and Clark to the cities in California made me feel like a pioneer truly in the wild west.I would reccomend this for people who love history as much as me.
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March 29, 2018Great reference book!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews