Who Gets To Belong In The Story Of The West?

Send us Fan Mail

Find Michele at bookclues.com

The Westerners MythMaking and Belonging on the American Frontier

We talk with historian Megan Kate Nelson about how the American West gets turned into a story and how that story shapes who counts as a “real” Westerner. We follow seven lives that expose the networks, conflicts and choices that the frontier myth often hides.
• Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis and why it dominated US western history
• Historians as mythmakers along with novelists and filmmakers
• Movement in every direction and the West as a web of networks
• Sacagawea’s real work on the Lewis and Clark expedition and why communities claim her
• Jim Beckwourth as a larger-than-life connector and why parts of his story stay disputed
• Maria Barcelo’s Santa Fe gambling empire and her use of courts and capital
• Little Wolf and Dull Knife’s strategy to protect the Northern Cheyenne and return home

If you like the interview, please like and subscribe. And you can find out more about me at bookclues.com. Guys, run to the Amazon store and get this book.

Scribner Publishing