At times, I reflect that for Americans living on the Great Plains, the Dust Bowl years must’ve been about the most miserable time imaginable. The Dust Bowl years were during the 1930s. This was the same time as the Great Depression in the U.S. But for people living on the Great Plains, their great depression […]
Category: American West History
“Rain Follows the Plow” – One of America’s Great Mistakes?
“Rain follows the Plow.” It’s a sentence that seems so ridiculous to modern people that we wonder how anyone ever believed it. But in America in the late 19th century, this was gospel truth to some people. Rain follows the plow. The idea behind rain follows the plow was simple and powerful. Proponents needed a […]
John Wesley Powell – Forgotten Prophet of the Old West?
Back when I first started grad school, I learned about John Wesley Powell. His career was both inspirational and tragic. And Powell’s career was also an interesting encapsulation of the history of the United States after the Civil War. John Wesley Powell was an explorer, a scientist, and, in some ways, a visionary. You’ve probably […]
The John Wesley Powell Map – A Real West That Could’ve Been?
Take a look at the following map of the American West. It is known as the John Wesley Powell map. Study it for a moment. The title is “Arid Region of the United States, Showing Drainage Districts.” A bland name, perhaps, but straightforward. The map’s author is one of the more important scientists in American […]
Bison Skulls – A True Symbol of the Authentic Old West?
At first, this question about bison skulls perhaps seems axiomatic. Is there anything, besides a cowboy, a cactus, or a gunfight, perhaps, that seems obviously more Old West than a bison skull? Well, just because something has become a symbol doesn’t mean it should be. Read my previous post about cowboys and the cowboy way, […]
Killing For Coal – Rob’s Review
The book Killing for Coal is a nonfiction work by Colorado historian Thomas Andrews. It bills itself as the story of America’s deadliest labor war. Killing for Coal qualifies as environmental history and seeks to explain the causes of the 1914 Ludlow Massacre. The Ludlow Massacre will feature in an upcoming novel of mine, so […]