Customer Reviews

The Story of the West

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Not only Americans but people throughout the world continue to be fascinated by the history of and stories about our "Old West." Beautifully and generously illustrated this comprehensive volume offers a close-up view of this territory and its people.

A veteran of the National Park Service and an accomplished historian, Robert Utley offers readers the opportunity to explore six periods in our Western past, enriched with voices heard in diaries, letters, speeches, and newspapers.

Opening with those who peopled this area long before Native Americans, some 12,000 years ago, we begin our journey. We learn that prehistoric Indians were not meat eaters, hunters, but rather cultivators. In fact, pumpkins and gourds were grown in Mexico some 7000 years ago. Of course, one of the most important inventions in very early times was the bow and arrow.

The years of the Spanish conquistadors are traced as well as the mountain men, cowboys and gun slingers until we touch the hem of the modern West.

"The Story of the West" is a valuable contribution to scholarship as well as a source of enjoyment and enlightenment for lay readers.

- Gail Cooke

"From the emergence of pre-Columbian civilizations more than 12,000 years ago to the urban West of today, this is the only book to recount the compete history of the West. Gripping eyewitness accounts, striking photographs, and archive materials are combined with absorbing narrative to produce a fascinating and truly comprehensive portrait of the real American West." ~back cover

"The Story of The West" is an authoritative reference that documents six distinct periods in Western history and highlights the human drama that has shaped this fascinating region.

1. The West Before Columbus

Prehistory - 1500

This covers the early Native American cultures, the land and its resources, the people, the changing west and tribal relations.

2. Spain in the West

1500-1800

A section detailing three centuries of Spanish influence, the founding of New Mexico, Mariners and Missionaries, Spanish Gains in the 1690s, and the West during the American Revolution.

3. The Winds of Change

1800-1840

U.S. Presence in the West, The Imperial West, Mapping the West, The Contest for Louisiana, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Empires of the Mind and Commotion in the Southwest. This chapter contains information on the Trail of Tears.

4. The Eagle Screams

1840-1865

Exploration and Migration, the Great Westward Migration, The Great Reconnaissance, The West in the American mind.

5. The West Subdued

1865-1900

Indian Wars, The Railroad Web, Federal Innovations, Development Run Rampant, Problems and Politics and Mythologizing the West.

6. The Contemporary West

1900 to the Present

The New West, the development of the oil industry, Hollywood, ethnic diversity and prominent figures like Walt Disney and George Bush. Covers areas like the Growing Economy (1900-1930), Politics and People, The 1920s, The West in the Great Depression, World War II, and Dreams vs. Reality.

The "Old West" of frontier times fascinates many Americans and scholars and the general public have become even more interested in researching this area of history. Robert M. Utley has devoted himself to historical research and writing. He specializes in the history of the American West and frequently appears on TV programs about the West. He specializes in:

The myth of the "old west"

The unique pre-history of the western states

The diverse ethnic populations who helped pioneer the west

The pioneering spirit that helped to shape the west

You can read about the ancestors of the Native Americans, Spanish conquistadors, fur-trapping, cowpunchers, mountain men, gunslingers, and Indian war leaders. There are also first-hand accounts from diaries, speeches, newspapers and letters. Quotes are sprinkled throughout the pages.

There are many maps, pictures, paintings, artifacts, sketches and other visual material that makes this book very enjoyable to read. I was especially interested in the information about making chocolate and there is a picture of a woman pouring chocolate to create a foamy drink.

Dr. Utley also put together a team of prominent historians including: John Logan Allen, Richard W. Etulain, John L. Kessell, Gerald D. Nash, Glenda Riley, James P. Ronda and W. Raymond Wood. They each contributed their expertise to a book that will be of great interest to all history buffs and readers who enjoy the rich and diverse history of the Western United States.

~The Rebecca Review

Also look for:

Native Americans

The Saga of Lewis & Clark

The Story of America

The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

Lone Star Justice: The First History of the Texas Rangers

Cavalier in Buckskin

I just lovedthis book. I live in Mexico, and I have always learned the Mexican history, its conquest, and everything focused on Mexico, but this book opened myself to a wider kmowledge.

It is well organized. It has lots of pictures, maps, timeline parts which are appreciated and make myself understand better what we are talking about. Great book.

Professor Glenda Riley includes a chapter on Mythologizing the West and tells us, "The Golden West remained a land of opportunity in the popular mind." Having lived in Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming, I believe it continues to be the Wild Wonderful West.

The artwork is excellent. I have praise for the high quality colored maps illustrating the growing United States and the shrinking Indian domains; the colorful drawings of paddle-wheel riverboats and Indian life; the black and white photographs of early settlers, Pueblo Indians, and Navajo code talkers; and color photos of Las Vegas slot machines and the Grand Canyon.

While reading this book from cover to cover will give a good idea of the historical timeline of the West, this book suffers from more than its fair share of problems that plague all books of its type. The Story of the West can not be condensed to one book without a tremendous loss of material and perspective. I have great respect for Robert Utley as a scholar and an author, but as an editor, he has to rely on writings of others that are not as well researched and are full of more opinion and less fact than his own. Inconsistencies are clear between chapters; ex. After the author of chapter 5 bends over backwards to show that the Old west included a diverse mix of people, the author of chapter 6 begins by writing, "And even though most of the people in the Old West were of western and northern European backgrounds," So which is it? Also in chapter 5, the author makes a point of how Hispanics were exploited by whites to work in manual labor jobs, while a picture two pages later clearly shows four white men picking oranges with a caption that mentions they are doing so for low wages. I also found the book to be full of other inconsistencies, mispellings, and on pages 266-267, captions of two pictures are switched. The author of Chapter 5 declared on page 233 that when John Wesley Powell "exhibited photographs and artifacts at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, in Philadelphia, he presented a slightly inaccurate, yet still valuable, chronicle ....." I believe that this statement aptly describes "The Story of the West."