ABSTRACT
The World of the American West is an innovative collection of original essays that brings the world of the American West to life, and conveys the distinctiveness of this diverse, constantly changing region. Twenty scholars incorporate the freshest research in the field to take the history of the American West out of its timeworn "Cowboys and Indians" stereotype right up into the major issues being discussed today, from water rights to the presence of the defense industry. Other topics covered in this heavily illustrated, highly accessible volume include the effects of leisure and tourism, western women, politics and politicians, Native Americans in the twentieth century, and of course, oil.
With insight both informative and unexpected, The World of the American West offers perspectives on the latest developments affecting the modern American West, providing essential reading for all scholars and students of the field so that they may better understand the vibrant history of this globally significant, ever-evolving region of North America.
Introduction
Chapter 1 -The Physical Geography of the West by Robert Spude
Chapter 2 -The Flora and the Fauna by Kurt Russo
Chapter 3 - The Native West before 1700 by Gregory E. Smoak
Chapter 4 - Hosts and Horses: Envirocultural Effects of Contact in the Amerindian West by K. D. Motes
Chapter 5 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Robert Carriker
Chapter 6 - Continued Exploration of the American West: The Fur Trade, Map Makers, Path Markers by William R. Swagerty
Chapter 7 - The "Earlier, wilder image": Early artists of the American West by Elizabeth Kuebler-Wolf
Chapter 8 -The Borderlands of the United States West by Sheila McManus
Chapter 9 - California Transformed: Organizing a New Society, 1848-1869 by Peter Blodgett
Chapter 10 - The Urbanization of the American West: The Processes and People in the Rise of Instant Cities and Their Evolution into the Twenty-First Century by Brent M. Rogers
Chapter 11 -The Hydraulic West – The History of Irrigation by Charles R. Porter
Chapter 12 - Leisure in the West by Randal Fulkerson
Chapter 13 - Learning in the West: Western Women and the Culture of Education by Andrea G. Radke-Moss
Chapter 14 - Defense Industries by Susan Tschabrun
Chapter 15 - The Rise of Western Women to National Stature in the Early Twentieth Century by Shannon D. Smith
Chapter 16 -American Politics Move West by Gordon Morris Bakken
Chapter 17 - Government and Law in the American West by Aaron Wilson
Chapter 18 - Region of Extremes and Contrast by Alicia Dewey
Chapter 19 - American Indians in the Twentieth Century by Lisa E. Emmerich
Chapter 20 - Leadership or Dominance: The Role of the Western U.S. Economy in the World by Neil Greenwood
