How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky From Daniel Boone to Henry Clay [Hardcover]

Professor Stephen Aron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1996

"A first-rate piece of work and a fine read." -- Alan Taylor, University of California, Davis

"This excellent history of early Kentucky resonates with the most important questions in the history of the early republic, frontier, and economic development. One of the book's great strengths is its 'genre-busting' quality, taking up ethnohistory and settlement history in the same narrative." -- John Mack Faragher, Yale University

Eighteenth-century Kentucky was a place where Indian and European cultures collided -- and, surprisingly, coincided. But this mixed world did not last, and it eventually gave way to nineteenth-century commercial and industrial development. How the West Was Lost tracks the overlapping conquest, colonization, and consolidation of the trans-Appalachian frontier. Not a story of paradise lost, this is a book about possibilities lost. It focuses on the common ground between Indians and backcountry settlers which was not found, the frontier customs that were not perpetuated, the lands that were not distributed equally, the slaves who were not emancipated, the agrarian democracy that was not achieved, and the millennium that did not arrive. Seeking to explain why these dreams were not realized, Stephen Aron shows us what did happen during Kentucky's tumultuous passage from Daniel Boone's world to Henry Clay's.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The publication of How the West was Lost moves Stephen Aron, currently a professor at UCLA, into the front ranks of contemporary American historians. The book shatters customary generic boundaries to incorporate insights from many types of history -- social, political, economic, ethnohistory, women's history, religious history, even the 'new' western history. Though the ground has been covered before, no one prior to Aron has so thoroughly and insightfully examined the range of complex issues involved in the development of Kentucky from frontier to settlement... How the West was Lost is an insightful and accessible book, one that should have an appeal beyond the professional historian. A brief review does scant justice to the subtlety and thoroughness with which Aron details the mentalities and motivations of the historical actors in the drama of Kentucky settlement." -- Charles B. Churchill, History: Reviews of New Books

"Stephen Aron has written a masterly account of the settlement and development of Kentucky from the late eighteenth century through the early nineteenth. Aron chooses as his parameters the overlapping lives of two archetypal Kentuckians, Daniel Boone and Henry Clay... Although each frontier was unique in circumstances, Kentucky's transition from backcountry to settlement and elite dominance was a common pattern. This excellent book will be useful to all interested in the frontier and the nineteenth century, not just to those interested in Kentucky or the Ohio Valley." -- Nicole Etcheson, Journal of the Early Republic

"This is an excellent study -- well written, well researched, and well argued. In the area of frontier history, there should be a buzz about this book." -- James C. Klotter, Journal of American History

"A delight to read, this book should appeal to anyone with an interest in Kentucky history. Aron's research is solid and his writing carefully crafted. Brilliant insights pepper his prose." -- Christopher Waldrep, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"In this tightly written account, Stephen Aron traces the impact of evolving social, political, and economic forces on Kentucky between 1770 and 1825... This is an elegantly written book that provides an excellent analysis of the evolution of economic and political institutions in the trans-Appalachian west. Aron's discussion of the emergence of the Bluegrass gentry and their consolidation of power is particularly valuable, as is his comparison of Shawnee and backwoodsman societies... This is an important book." -- R. David Edmunds, American Historical Review

"How the West Was Lost engages the reader; it actually asks us to think about the issues it raises rather than accept the author's conclusions as a definitive last word on them. Aron has written a book that demands that attention be paid to trans-Appalachia's important role in the conquest of North America while it underscores the contested nature of its history. And for that, we are all in his debt." -- Andrew R. L. Cayton, Georgia Historical Quarterly

About the Author

Stephen Aron is an associate professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (July 8, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080185296X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801852961
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,401,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Forgotten Kentuckies, September 9, 2003

By 

Ronald B. Turner "my blog: http://naughtypun... (Newport, Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky From Daniel Boone to Henry Clay (Paperback)

This was assigned reading in my Kentucky History class. It covers the founding and settlement of Kentucky. What makes the book is the brief glimpses it gives of the Forgotten Kentuckies:

-- Free Kentucky. When the land was a giant game reserve for Native Americans, full of trees and animals, but devoid of people. Where the buffalo literally roamed until white hunters brought about their extinction in just a matter of a few years.
-- Pioneer Kentucky. When small families lived in the middle of nowhere, battling Mother Nature and Indians. A world where some Native American tribes tried to assimilate captured white settlers, and some missionaries tried to lead converted Indians.
-- Chaotic Kentucky. When the lawyers and land speculators showed up, driving free-thinking spirits such as Daniel Boone away.
-- the Bluegrass Era of Henry Clay. When wild Kentucky transformed into a mini version of the Old Dominion with its slavery and aristocratic living.
-- Outlaw Kentucky. When the Green River and other parts of the state tried and failed to rebel against the establishment.
-- The Great Revival. When evengelical religious fervor swept the state, bringing the Shakers among others.

All in all, there's a little something here for everybody. It can be read on many levels. As an account of early Kentucky, a look at the worlds of Daniel Boone and Henry Clay, a case study on frontier expansion, or for just pure enjoyment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A parable of American paradise lost, June 11, 2011

By 

Ulfilas (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky From Daniel Boone to Henry Clay (Paperback)

Although specific to the early years of Kentucky, from its founding in the 1760's and 1770's by Daniel Boone and his pioneer cohorts, to the mercantile slave owning state overseen by Henry Clay in the early to mid 1800's, the author presents a story that seems like a parable of the conflict, between the public good and the ascendancy of a litigious economic upper class, that is both timely and familiar. The sweat and blood of the first settlers are seen to have been practically for naught as the defeat of the native American Indians only paved the way for actions that made legal access to land all but out of reach for the common man. Daniel Boone himself was seen to have judged clear title to any of the lands that he pioneered so difficult to obtain that he left Kentucky for Missouri.

Collusion between various moneyed interests (banks included) and real estate speculation and bubbles make the problems of early Kentucky seem strangely similar to those that we experience today. The role and evolution of evangelism are also explored, starting with the "Great Awakening" of the early 1800s. It is interesting to read that in those days born-again religion was seen as a democratizing popular movement. Part of the appeal of this new religious movement is that it was identified as standing apart from the deism exposed by the landed Bluegrass gentry and the city of Lexington.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two views of Kentucky, March 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How the West Was Lost: The Transformation of Kentucky From Daniel Boone to Henry Clay (Hardcover)

Stephen Aron's book depicts the two conflicting ideals of how Kentucky is to go down into history by pioneer Daniel Boone and then, the powerful Henry Clay. A very good book answering all the questions of historical Trans-Appalacha. I feel as if Aron could have shortened the book and still be able to get the point across of the two opposing sides.