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14 Local Warehouse Biography- Gardeners and Naturalists
9 Remote Warehouse US History- General


Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West

by Michael Punke

Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In the last three decades of the nineteenth century, an American buffalo herd once numbering 30 million animals was reduced to twelve. It was the era of Manifest Destiny, a Gilded Age that treated the West as nothing more than a treasure chest of resources to be dug up or shot down. The buffalo in this world was a commodity, hounded by legions of swashbucklers and unemployed veterans seeking to make their fortunes. Supporting these hide hunters, even buying their ammunition, was the U.S. Army, which considered the eradication of the buffalo essential to victory in its ongoing war on Native Americans.

Into that maelstrom rode young George Bird Grinnell. A scientist and a journalist, a hunter and a conservationist, Grinnell would lead the battle to save the buffalo from extinction. Fighting in the pages of magazines, in Washington's halls of power, and in the frozen valleys of Yellowstone, Grinnell and his allies sought to preserve an icon from the grinding appetite of Robber Baron America.

Grinnell shared his adventures with some of the greatest and most infamous characters of the American West—from John James Audubon and Buffalo Bill to George Armstrong Custer and Theodore Roosevelt (Grinnell's friend and ally). A strikingly contemporary story, the saga of Grinnell and the buffalo was the first national battle over the environment. In Grinnell's legacy is the birth of the conservation movement as a potent political force.

Book News Annotation:

When George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938) died, his New York Times obituary dubbed him the "father of American conservation." In this biography, Punke (history correspondent for Montana Quarterly) describes the scientific career of Grinnell as he became advocate for conservation in the American West, including his advocacy on behalf of the nearly extinct American buffalo, his role in establishing Glacier National Park, his organizing on behalf of the first Audubon Society, and his founding (with Theodore Roosevelt) of the conservationist Boone and Crockett Club. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About the Author

Michael Punke lives with his family in Montana. A former partner in a Washington law firm, his diverse professional experience includes work on the White House National Security Council and on Capitol Hill. Punke is the history correspondent for Montana Quarterly magazine and is the author of a novel, The Revenant, about the adventures of a nineteenth-century frontiersman. Punke is also the author of a work of nonfiction, Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917, a finalist for the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780060897826
Subtitle:
George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West
Author:
Punke, Michael
Author:
by Michael Punke
Publisher:
Collins
Subject:
General
Subject:
History
Subject:
United States - General
Subject:
United States - 19th Century/Old West
Subject:
Environmental Conservation & Protection - Endangered Species
Subject:
Naturalists, Gardeners, Environmentalists
Subject:
West (U.S.) History 1860-1890.
Subject:
Grinnell, George Bird
Publication Date:
June 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
286
Dimensions:
9.28x6.60x1.06 in. 1.24 lbs.

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