The "Wild West"

Paper Summary:

This paper gives an historical insight into the history of what has become known as the "Wild West" by the review of two books, "The Way to the West" by Elliott West and "The American West: The Modern Vision" by Patricia Janis Broder. It examines how both authors present us with an explanation of the incursions of the white settlers into what was then the West and the process through which the West became a place where people could live out their dreams. It examines the shift from traditional hunting and gathering strategies of the American Indians to the agrarian nature of the settlers and the economics of making a living in the West. Both books also look at the myths about the West that have grown out of the facts.

From the Paper:

"It has become fashionable in recent years to scoff at the myth of the West and to replace this myth with history. This is in large measure what West has set out to do. He is intent on telling a real story about a real place, and in particular in telling an environmental story about the fragility of the Plains, with their uncertain and limited rainfall. Looking at a part of the country that was once the West "Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming" West looks very carefully at the historical record of the place, at what lured families from the East, what made them stay or move on, what made them succeed or fail."

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