Seeking Pleasure in the Old West [Paperback]

David Dary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997

110 photographs and illustrations in text.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shedding Puritan prejudices, people of the American West learned to enjoy themselves between approximately 1800 and the early 20th century. The men on Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition square-danced to fiddle music. Cowboys did more than drink, gamble and chase women; their leisure pursuits included singing, storytelling, dominoes, reading, footraces and, among wealthy ranchers, collecting fine paintings. U.S. Army soldiers played the newfangled game of baseball and even enjoyed debating and attending concerts. Drawing on diaries, recollections and early newspapers, Dary's (Cowboy Culture) irresistible narrative, marvelously illustrated with 110 old photographs and engravings, recreates Cheyenne ceremonial dances, card games on Mississippi steamboats, New Orleans balls, frontier campfires and cafe-theaters, Santa Fe saloons, Wyoming bicycle clubs and mineral spas as he charts the emergence of a middle class that came to disapprove of prostitution, gambling, drinking, bear-baiting and buffalo-hunting. Much more than a catalogue of diversions, his engaging chronicle offers a stirring and enlarging vision of American culture and character.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA?With all of the stereotypical portrayals of cowboys, gun fights, and bawdy houses, it is gratifying indeed to learn that ordinary hardworking people in the West entertained themselves in many interesting and creative ways. Dary uses diaries, recollections, period newspapers and wonderful photographs and engravings to characterize American culture from 1800 to the early 20th century. With the advent of the transcontinental railroad, telegraph, and mail, towns and cities sprang up. Civilized institutions such as churches and schools grew, bringing people who disapproved of gambling, prostitution, drinking, and other "pleasures" in the early days. YAs will find this book fascinating reading as well as a resource for the study of social history during this period.?Carol P. Clark, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700608281
• ISBN-13: 978-0700608287
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining and enlightening look at our ancestors., March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seeking Pleasure in the Old West (Paperback)

(Note: This review was written for the hard-back edition of the book.) March 28, 1999

A must read for anyone interested in learning about how our nineteenth century ancestors living on the American frontier sought to bring pleasure into their lives. The book's strongest point however, is also its weakest, as Dary attempts to address the entire spectrum of frontier society but, unfortunately, falls short. He fails to mention some of the so-called "fringe" elements of society that existed on the frontier long before the arrival of the waves of settlers from the east. Although there are entire chapters on the early explorers, mountain men, and Indians, little, if any, mention is made of the French-Indian mixed-blood settlements that already existed along the Missouri River and its tributaries such as the Kansas River. He also fails to address the pleasures sought by the black populace that started spreading westward after the Civil War. There is also only brief mention of the Chinese population that helped build the railroads and were present in just about every frontier town.

Despite these shortcomings, Dary's descriptions of pioneer life are fascinating. The simple things that bought pleasure to our ancestors are difficult for our modern society to understand. Perhaps Dary's most salient point is saved until the very end when he stresses how the pioneers created their own entertainment that almost always required active participation on their part and which usually involved the participation of others. He contrasts that with our society in which "pleasure providers" tell us what is pleasurable and what isn't. He then leaves it to the reader's discretion whether these changes are for the better or worse.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What we did for fun . . ., January 15, 2005

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seeking Pleasure In The Old West (Hardcover)

The title of this book may seem misleading to readers looking for accounts of bawdy behavior on the frontier. Social historian David Dary doesn't pretend that church picnics were the height of fun in the Old West, but much of what his book describes are innocent pastimes. While saloons, brothels, and so-called pleasure palaces do get their mention, the book is chiefly a compendium of simple leisure activities and forms of entertainment.

Organized by chapter somewhat roughly by social groups (mountain men, Indians, emigrants, soldiers, cowboys), locations (along rivers, along railroads, in mining areas), and regions (Southwest, Northwest), the book imposes a kind of order over a vast encyclopedia of loosely related information. There's no grand theme, thesis or narrative holding it all together, so casual readers can dip into the book wherever impulse takes them without getting lost.

I particularly liked the chapter on soldiers, which briefly summarizes the campaigns of the Army of the West and the establishing of forts during the 19th century. Because the focus is on the passing of time between the waging of war (against Mexico, against the Indians), we get a different picture of military life than is the norm in history books. I enjoyed the accounts taken from the journals of soldiers and officers' wives of simple pleasures taken in the pristine wilderness of the prairie and of social events like theatricals, concerts, Fourth of July celebrations, holiday feasts, and dances organized for entertainment at the forts.

Familiar with cowboy culture, I found less that was new to me in the "Cow Country" chapter, but Dary provides a snapshot of this extensive subject that represents it fairly. His speculations on the rise and evolution of singing cowboys, particularly on the cattle drives, is interesting. Snippets of song lyrics help to illustrate this oral tradition.

The book's many photographs and illustrations complement the text well, although the limitations of early photography often required subjects to be stiffly posed. The physical spontaneity that's an essential part of many forms of pleasure eludes the camera. Thus, for instance, there are numerous photos of men playing cards. Altogether the book represents a heroic effort to assemble a picture of a vast subject. The value of this book is less in the overall generalities and more in the specific details, especially in the excerpts from journals and other documents where pleasures taken are vividly described.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real bargain!, April 4, 2001

By 

TheCafeWriter (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Seeking Pleasure in the Old West (Paperback)

There's a LOT--and I mean a LOT--of content here for the price! Mr. Dary has managed to cover a surprisingly broad range of Old West life far beyond what you could ever imagine from movies, TV, or novels--or even other books on this same topic. Full of black-and-white photos, although it reads a bit academic in style. If your purpose is research, the price for this book is money well-spent. You won't be disappointed.