Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America's Contemporary Frontier

by Dayton Duncan

"In this splendid book a gifted observer and a terrific idea have come together in a real love match. In 1990, a century after the census bureau's famous observation of the frontier's imminent end, Dayton Duncan set out in an aging GMC Suburban to visit a large sampling of counties outside Alaska that have fewer than two persons per square mile--the bureau's old standard for places still in a frontier condition. There are 132 such counties. All are in the West. . . . The result of his tour is an insightful and entertaining book, troubling and funny and consistently illuminating. . . . Much of the book's charm comes from Duncan's sketches of people who choose to live 'miles from nowhere'--ranchers in the Nebraska sandhills, a New Mexican bar owner, a priest and United Parcel Service driver along the Texas-Mexico border, and the descendant of a Seminole Negro army scout in west Texas. In them he finds characteristics associated with the mythic frontier. . . . Great fun to read."--Montana Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, Dayton Duncan has been a reporter, humor columnist, editorial writer, chief of staff to a governor, and deputy press secretary for presidential campaigns. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. His books include Out An American Journey, also available in a Bison Books edition.

Genres: Travel, History, Nonfiction, Americana, Westerns

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Emily Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Miles From Nowhere" is about people who literally live in the middle of nowhere. Dayton Duncan traveled the western United States in search of those people who lived in what in now considered the American frontier. He listened to their stories about how they got there, what it is like living there and why they stay. I absolutely loved this book, I thought it was well written and had the perfect mix of personal stories, historical facts and statistics. I am also a sucker for anything about extreme rural living. I am not sure why I find the idea of living in solitude without easy access to basic modern luxuries so appealing, but I do, and this book allowed me to imagine myself in these vast areas. A big part of the book mentions teachers who find themselves in these nonconventional regions, teaching in some of the few remaining one room school houses, with a handful of students of various ages and marrying ranchers instead of returning to the cities they came from. As a teacher myself, this sounds like quite the adventure. Perhaps one that I may try one day. This book may not be for everyone, but I found it very enjoyable and was sincerely sad when I finished it.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever Florentine Films producer (Ken Burns'company) Dayton Duncan gets depressed, he gets on the road. After his run as Dukakis' national press secretary, he decided to assuage his bruised heart with a trip to the modern frontier: all the counties in the contiguous 48 that have two people or less per square mile. Besides the miles and miles of solo driving through challenging terrain, he also had the opportunity to meet the toughest, most rugged individuals to find out what keeps them on the land when things could be a lot easier elsewhere. He got some answers that you might expect: "It's all that we know," and "My family has been here for more than 100 years." What makes the book interesting are the reasons that you would never expect - religious diversity, economic opportunity, being in the most beautiful place on the planet.
Good reading for those times when there's too much noise in your life.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some excellent chapters in here that study just one locality and really paint a picture about the people and the setting. There are some other, less-successful chapters that just go around collecting examples from various places to support the topic at hand. What is most interesting is the relationship between the small, nearly uninhabited places Duncan describes and the big cities, whose residents generally either want to extort resources (SoCal's water supply), or preserve the purity of the "frontier" in order to take a two-week vacation on a dirt-bike in unspoiled America. Not surprisingly, I am at least a little sympathetic to the big city view. This book was written nearly two decades ago, and it was interesting to google "Buffalo Commons" and see that the idea to turn a big chunk of the Great Plains into a nature preserve is still kicking around, and that the depopulation of the places in the book is still going on.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 45 of 2024: Miles from Nowhere by Dayton Duncan (1994, Penguin Books, 320 p.)
In 1893, Fredrick Jackson Turner announced the end of the American frontier, an oft-debated concept over the last century.
The author goes in search of what he calls the contemporary American frontier, defined as counties from the 1990 census that have less than 2 people per square mile. Nor surprisingly, all of these counties exist in the arid West, "beyond the 100th Meridian".
The book is engrossing, with vignettes of the hard scrapple life that folks have carved out in areas where many services are tens or even hundreds of miles away. It is part travel log, part history, and part social commentary.
More than a few of these places I have been to and have interacted with the folks living there. Some, in the last 34 years, are no longer part of the contemporary frontier as defined by the author. It would be interesting to compare the 2020 census data with his 1990 data to see how much the contemporary frontier has changed.
I really enjoyed this book, lent to me by my good friend Jim Hanson.
Recommended.

[Barb Purvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tales it was … the lead in regaled the authors’ quest to hear the stories and share the lives of modern day pioneers and off the grid people living in uninhabitable basically places around the US. Scattered amongst the few actual lives was mundane or otherwise slightly compelling history from times gone by - even centuries worth. Insidiously the narrative was set up in chapters around themes so jumped around geographically back and forth at random … are we in Montana ? Utah ? New Mexico in this paragraph ? I love to research the towns and places and people yet I often could hardly discern where they were from one paragraph to next without having to reread and extrapolate . Aggravating. 2.5 stars.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this quick read very much. I still can't understand the draw of these almost-uninhabited areas, but I know some of the people there and they seem very self centered as those in urban areas. They just don't have much except land and space. And in many cases they don't even the land. They also seem to get much more TV time than the people of urban areas on a per capita basis. Where do all the kids go who raised in these areas?

[Shelley Alongi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the sketches of the people. I did not always enjoy the history because it seems as if someone is always getting blamed for something and it's always the government or something. I think it's just because it was 1990 and this is a trend in history. Nevertheless, that was the part I did not enjoy. Anyways it was very well writ ten.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

is there still a frontier in the west? Dayton Duncan goes exploring remote locations. Old book, 1990's, but probably not much changed. I was thinking more 'tales' and stories, but this is more of a history book with statistics; only a few stories to grab my attention. As I love the West, I'm glad I read this, did learn something, but definitely not a page turner.

[Debbiebandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this book was written in 1990, it is a fascinating read about rural America defined as counties with less than two people per square mile. Mr. Duncan uses a narrative approach to these empty spaces, introducing the reader to people and places that most of us have never imagined. Very engaging read!

[Bob Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is maybe a bit dated but I like Duncan’s writing. There were some interesting facts and unusual stories on how people are existing and coping in such remote and sparsely populated areas. A rare breed of people to stick it out under those conditions.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is most interesting when it is telling the stories of the local inhabitants who live miles from nowhere.

[Debreen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t finish the book. I wanted to like it and learn from it but I just couldn’t get into it.

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't expect a page turner, but a few more stories about individuals would have made more of a lasting impact than all the facts and stats.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meget spændende at læse. Lige mit interessefelt.

[Clay Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is sort of a quirky book about some of the almost uninhabited places in the continental US and the interesting, tough-as-boot leather people who choose to live there. It’s definitely worth reading if you enjoy geography and the study of people.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at the counties in the USA that have a population density of less than 2 people per square mile. This was the definition that the census bureau used in the past for frontier. The author tells of the differences of the current frontier from it historic predecessor, from its urban and suburban western neighbors and other rural counties with higher densities. This book was written in the early 90's, after the 1990 census and so it a little dated. But much that it has to say is still true. Some of the differences are: the US/Mexican border is much more active than in the nineties; and with the high oil prices, the current boom is in oil drilling. The fight with urban areas over water has intensified.

The stories told by the people living in the modern frontier are fascinating.

[bert-bobbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author spent a year traveling around the US, visiting all locales that had a population of less than 2 people per square mile. Which makes it a travelogue of sorts, full of human stories which provide the upside of the book. But it was written 20 years ago, so the info is dated. Add to that the presentation and organization of the material makes it ho-hum in many passages, and addressed some topics in a manner that gave the appearence of being tailored to state the author's own convictions and political agenda. It had been highly recommended by a friend, but I found it hard to trudge through after a good first chapter on Jordan, MT. I had high hopes when I got the book for a great read, being a book about sparsely populated America. But I am glad to be done with it in spite of its few bright spots.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Except for the lack of any mention of the internet, this 17-year-old book might as well have been written last year. Dayton Duncan (whose name might be familiar from collaborations with Ken Burns) describes what he calls the "contemporary frontier" - counties with less than two people per square mile in the 1990 census - a century after the celebrated "closing" of the frontier after the 1890 census. I got a much better sense for the combination of backwardness and close-knit communities that are present in such sparsely-populated areas, and learned a lot about the history (and, probably future) of boom-and-bust development in the West. I found it very interesting, if not all that engaging and not quite compelling.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Describes the [very hard] lives of men and women in counties the 1990 census identified as having fewer than 2 people per square mile, a figure Duncan equates with 'frontier' conditions. His travels were conducted in 1990, the centennial of Turner's 'Frontier Thesis,' and most of the book involves setting historic parallels and stereotypes on their heads. The 'wild west' is now much safer and less subject to violent crime than cities; historically the most diverse portion of the US, the west is now overwhelmingly white; once a region where young people went to make their fortunes, it is now disproportionately elderly and often serves as a tranquil haven. The author's fair-minded approach makes it pleasant and informative.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sparse, restrainedly admiring portrait of places where there are less than 2 people per square mile. I liked the bit about how in local elections you know exactly how many votes you're going to get, I loved learning that one-room schoolhouses are still in operation, I loved hearing about the old homesteaders and the pride they feel for their past and for their lineage. Most frontier people are real-life cowboys, with that same laconic fierce pride, but the bit about the New-Agers seeking to create a new world was cool, and the school-teachers who fell into this lifestyle they half hate as a sacrifice for the men they love. Really a great book.

[Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember how I found this book, but its one of my favorites. It takes Frederick Jackson Turner's 1890 assertion that the west was closed and examines rural western counties after the 1990 census. In the 1800's the census defined frontier as counties with less than 2 people per square mile. Duncan traveled to a number of these counties in the 90's to show the modern frontier. It is a great look at the rural west. This book and Duncan's other book Out West , convinced me I wanted to go west!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Dayton Duncan basically had the best idea ever for a book and I am incredibly jealous that he went careening over the U.S. meeting all these great, kind of crazy people. I am not jealous, however, about the book he wrote about them - clearly a historian, Duncan spends an awful lot of wordage on interpreting the "frontier." The history is great, the interviews are great, but everything in between was a little dull in comparison, which only goes to show that he wrote a much different book than I would've, and which means I'm going to steal his idea and write mine.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for like a dollar at a sidewalk sale at the KU bookstore and with my recent (last summer) travels through Nebraska and South Dakota, and my recent conversion to Geographer-ness, I thought I would read it, and I found it really fascinating. When we drove through the Sandhills, I thought what a beautiful place, but how do people LIVE out here...and now I know!

[Janel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duncan compares the contemporary frontier with the one that was declared closed as of 1890. Overall it is an interesting read. Some of Duncan's conclusions are fairly obvious, while others had me thinking. What I most enjoyed about this book, however, were the human interest stories--the tales of the people who have inhabited as well as those who currently reside in the frontier.

[Piedmont_Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer travels through the ten least populated counties in the United States and interviews some of the citizens. All of the counties are in the West. All interview subjects are independent sorts of folks, as you can imagine - they have a variety of reasons for living where they do. A lot of readers will probably be shocked we still have an inner "frontier" in the United States.

[Pam Van Winkle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was eye opening that people still live in the middle of nowhere under some of the described conditions. The peoples' stories were interesting and sometimes heartwarming. There was alot of history, which isn't my interest, so I skimmed alot of those parts. The book did get a little repetitious at times, but worth the read.

[Larry Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last few chapters made me think more about my opinions on public lands and it's usage. Even though this was written in the 90s it has relevance to news of today.
The moral to this story if there is one. "The strong survive" the cowboys took it from the Indians and now the rich and powerful are taking it from them. Also the government lies. surprise!

[Mark Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! The author has an excellent premise and does an excellent job of exploring locations and telling the stories of people who live there. Now that's it been almost 25 years, I would LOVE for Dayton Duncan to write a follow up companion novel to explore how emerging technologies have effected rural communities.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author describes counties in this country with less than 2 people/sq. mile. There are more now than 100 years ago. Life there is hard, but unlike you might imagine. e.g. UPS delivers anywhere! This book is a way to learn about a quarter of the area in the United States.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although researched & written in the early 90's, the travels and insights of the author provide startling insight into how the Frontier spirit of the American West is alive and well in unexpected and refreshing places.