The Westerners
Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier
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- ¥2,200
発行者による作品情報
“A uniquely compelling look at the dynamism and conflict that defined the West” (Booklist), shattering the traditional frontier myth that has dominated popular American culture.
“A richly layered portrait of the nineteenth-century frontier” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), The Westerners is an epic counter-history of the American West told in two interwoven stories. The first reveals the captivating lives of women and men moving through the American West—Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, Mexican Americans, and Canadian and Asian immigrants—in the 19th century. The second tracks the attempts of many Americans to erase these westerners from history, through the formation of a national mythology that lionized individualism and conquest and celebrated white settlers traveling west in search of prosperity.
This vivid, eye-opening account is a new history of the frontier, told through the lives of seven extraordinary individuals: Sacajawea, not just Lewis and Clark’s guide but an explorer who forged her own path; Jim Beckwourth, a biracial fur trader whose sharp cultural insight made him an important player in western geopolitics; María Gertrudis Barceló, a Hispana gambling saloon owner who broke every stereotype to become the wealthiest woman in Santa Fe; Ovando Hollister, a gold miner, soldier, and newspaperman who championed western expansion; Little Wolf, a Northern Cheyenne chief whose courageous leadership secured his people’s future; Canadian immigrant Ella Watson, who strove to become a rancher in a male-dominated world; and the defiant Polly Bemis, a Chinese immigrant who carved out a life in Idaho despite federal expulsion efforts.
Highlighting the perseverance and ingenuity of communities that have otherwise been forgotten or erased, this important book challenges us to reimagine who we are and where we came from. “Nelson’s deft hand at writing draws the reader in with heartfelt and engaging storytelling.” (Colorado Sun)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This richly layered portrait of the 19th-century frontier from historian Nelson (Saving Yellowstone) spotlights figures whose complex lives embody an era of "chaotic and unstable... transformation." They include Jim Beckworth, son of an enslaved woman and a white father, who spent years living as a member of an Apsaalooke community because a grieving mother insisted he was her dead son; Maria Gertrudis Barcelo, a Hispana woman who grew rich playing cards and whose "ability to assess the rapidly changing geopolitics of Nuevo Mexico" brought her fame and influence; and Little Wolf, a Northern Cheyenne "master strategist" who led his people on a thrilling flight for freedom, but turned to alcohol when he fell short. Nelson weaves her subjects' lives together—they often quite literally cross paths—while simultaneously showing how their stories were changed or erased in favor of a more clear-cut frontier myth of white male dominance. Along the way, she highlights moments where Americans could have achieved a more just future—for instance, California missed an opportunity to write "full citizenship for all comers" into its constitution—while also offering vibrant details of daily life, like ruminative scenes where Sacajawea forages for wild licorice and artichokes and, later on, famously insists that she get to see the ocean. This complicated, sprawling epic is untamed in a good way.
