The West That Was [antikvár]

mmrn INTRODUCTION In the early 1800s the West had become that part of the United States beyond the Mississippi River. But it was more than just a vast and unknown territory. The West also stood for a restless, exuberant, adventurous spirit whose resounding and fluent enthusiasms encompassed the opportunities and risks, the successes and failures of man freely challenging his natural environment. As the twentieth century arrived, however, the West had not only diminished in size — its boundaries had moved across Kansas — but, more significantly, its essential and early eloquence was rapidly falling silent. The gold and silver mines had petered out, and communities that had sprung up overnight just as quickly became ghost towns. Sodbusters began to fence the land where herds of cattle had roamed, and with these homesteaders and their families came the demand for law and order. But with all the progress, with all the physical changes that came to the land, the unique spirit that had prevailed continued on in story, art and song. Here then is a collection that recalls a golden era of Americana at its best. This is The West That Was.