The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890

Histories of the American Frontier Series

by Robert M. Utley

Looks at the various conflicts between white settlers and Native American tribes during the period of Western expansion

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native Americans, American History, Native American, Westerns, Research

325 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

A specialist in Native American history and the history of the American West, Robert Marshall Utley was a former chief historian of the National Park Service. He earned a Bachelor of Science in history from Purdue University in 1951, and an Master of Arts in history from Indiana University in 1952. Utley served as Regional Historian of the Southwest Region of the NPS in Santa Fe from 1957 to 1964, and as Chief Historian in Washington, D.C. from 1964 until his retirement in 1980.

Reviews

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not think that the White Man and the Indians did not understand each other. The Indians knew that they were being pushed out and going to reservations. The White Man had a clear understanding of they wanted the Indians gone. Every promise we made them we broke. I know first hand the Indians did not like the missionaries sent to them as they wanted to retain the customs they had.

[Kristi Thielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, scholarly but readable work about the political, cultural and military clashes between Indian nations and the United States, during the last decades before all tribes were contained on reservations.

These are the decades of the most famous traumas: Sand Creek, Little Big Horn, the pursuits of Geronimo and Chief Joseph, then the Wounded Knee Massacre.

I was particular struck by Utley's statement that easterners were only "dimly aware" of the conflicts with tribes to the northwest and southwest, because they were so consumed with what was happening among tribes of the Great Plains. And that "after Sand Creek, relations with the Plains Indians had almost alone shaped public opinion and government policy."

How might those opinions and policies have been shaped if the power structure "back east" had taken the time to develop a more nuanced understanding of the unique nature of EACH western tribe?

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert M. Utley's The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890 was a difficult book to read because the events it describes are so grim. White America's dealings with the indigenous peoples of North America is a long tale of racism, greed, and the corrupt politics of the spoils system.

All the treaties that Washington urged upon the Indians were just so many pieces of paper to the politicos who drafted them. After all, the Indian tribes were not really civilized and not at all as enlightened as the fine Christians who signed for the Government. There was little attempt for the Whites to adhere to the treaties. Once they were finalized, they kept being renegotiated to open up reservation lands to settlers.

Indeed, white men did speak with forked tongue.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jumps around abruptly a bit, but a good overview of the US relations with American Indians. Definitely food for thought, and made me interested in learning more.

[=====D · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is pretty evil, and at the same time it is full of stuff i didn't know, so i read the whole thing, nauseous. I would love to quote a passage in entirety to show the bigotry of it, but i don't have it in front of me. in a word, the book's premise, that frontier relations were characterized by mutual incomprehension on the part of indians and whites is belied by the narratives presented in the book itself: they tell overwhelmingly of the one-sided dispossession and extermination of native peoples. Equally alarming, the book lacks any summary of the larger trends of westward expansion into indian territory, the government and industry roles in the move are discounted by the assertion that the migrants themselves would have overwhelmed any attempt to curtail the migration, etc. the book reads like a schizophrenic account as it alternates between the brutal and inescapable facts in the history of the american west and pieties regarding the equal culpability of indians and whites in that history. this book needs a new asshole torn into it, it is disturbing to imagine teachers presenting this book to students as an "even-handed" account of the period.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had good information in it but what he said in his introduction bothered me. The author began by criticizing Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded knee foe only telling Native American western history from a Native American perspective, and that he was too critical of whites. While revisionist history often crosses lines Brown's book is an example of a group taking back their history. This tainted the rest of the book for me. For example he said the missionaries were the best thing to happen to the reservations, I believe many would disagree. This book is informative but out of touch with current scholarship.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was a little uncomfortable with what seemed like a lack of detail, but before long I was won over by the approach taken. Characterizing this chaotic time of Indian war and displacement, using a few overriding themes, and then illustrating them, and coloring them with examples, quotes, reports, etc. worked very well to bring me closer to the people of that time, while at the same time making it brilliantly clear how influential both "tidal forces" and individual characters of a myriad stripes unfolded the events and experiences of that often raw era.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utley does another excellent job writing about the American Indian Wars. The frontier was constantly moving westward as the nation expanded. The author covers the period from the Mexican-American War to just prior to the turn of the century. A good read.

[Charlie Newfell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information, and the closing of the frontier is filled with fascinating details, stories and atrocities. This account doesn't take advantage of any of it. It is ...dry. Could have been so much better.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history book with eye-opening account of how the whites treated the Indians in America. Even their best intentions led to terrible results.
Sad story. Highly recommended.