The Indian Frontier: 1846-1890

Histories of the American Frontier

By: Robert M. Utley

Narrated by: Kenneth Lee

First published in 1984, Robert Utley's The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890, is considered a classic for both students and scholars. For this revision, Utley includes scholarship and research that has become available in recent years.

©1984, 2003 University of New Mexico Press (P)2013 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"[ The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890] provides an excellent synthesis of Indian-white relations in the trans-Mississippi West during the last half-century of the frontier period." ( Journal of American History)

" The Indian Frontier of the American West combines good writing, solid research, and penetrating interpretations. The result is a fresh and welcome study that departs from the soldier-chases-Indian approach that is all too typical of other books on the topic." ( Minnesota History)

"[Robert M. Utley] has carefully eschewed sensationalism and glib oversimplification in favor of critical appraisal, and his firm command of some of the best published research of others provides a solid foundation for his basic argument that Indian hostility in the half century following the Mexican War was directed less at the white man per se than at the hated reservation system itself." ( Pacific Historical Review)

There are a lot of players!

In my humble opinion, this book would be Great as a television series. Because of the tremendous amount of players or characters this book gets too complicated to follow without setting and concentrating. Perhaps the visual representation of the multitude of characters would aid folks like me in keeping everyone straight.

Amazing Book

I first read this book in 1993 when I was an SCA volunteer at Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Including this listen, I've read it three times since. it remains the best overview of the decline of the Indian nations in the second half of the 19th century out there, and Robert Utley is the leading Western historian.

Indian Frontier

For those who liked this book I suggest the following book by Utley, The Lance And the Shield. Also the Journey of Crazy Horse by Marshall.