The legacy of conquest: The unbroken past of the American West

About this book

"Limerick is one of the most engaging historians writing today." --Richard White The "settling" of the American West has been perceived throughout the world as a series of quaint violent and romantic adventures. But in fact Patricia Nelson Limerick argues the West has a history grounded primarily in economic reality; in hardheaded questions of profit loss competition and consolidation. Here she interprets the stories and the characters in a new way: the trappers traders Indians farmers oilmen cowboys and sheriffs of the Old West "meant business" in more ways than one and their descendents mean business today. 28 illustrations