Synopses & Reviews
This magnificent, sweeping account traces the histories of the Native peoples of the American West from their arrival thousands of years ago to the early years of the nineteenth century. Colin G. Calloway depicts Indian country west of the Appalachians to the Pacific, with emphasis on conflict and change. With broad and incisive strokes Calloway's narrative includes: the first inhabitants and their early pursuit of big-game animals; the diffusion of corn and how it transformed American Indian life; the Spanish invasion and Indian resistance to Spanish colonialism; French-Indian relations in the heart of the continent; the diffusion of horses and horse culture; the collision of rival European empires and the experiences of Indian peoples whose homelands became imperial borderlands; and the dramatic events between the American Revolution and the arrival of Lewis and Clark. The account ends as a new American nation emerged independent of the British Empire, took over the trans-Mississippi West, and began to expand its own empire based on the concept of liberty and the acquisition of Indian land. One Vast Winter Count offers a new look at the early history of the region-a blending of ethnohistory, colonial history, and frontier history. It features Native voices and perspectives; a masterful, fluid integration of a wide range of oral and archival sources from across the West; a dynamic reconstruction of cultural histories; and balanced consideration of controversial subjects and issues. Calloway offers an unparalleled glimpse at the lives of generations of Native peoples in a western land soon to be overrun. Colin G. Calloway is a professor of history, Samson Occom Professor of NativeAmerican Studies, and chair of the Native American Studies program at Dartmouth College. He is the coeditor of Germans and Indians: Fantasies, Projections, Encounters (Nebraska 2002) and the author of many publications including New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America.
Review
"Author of First Peoples and a distinguished Dartmouth historian, Calloway concentrates on the Indian experience from the Appalachians to the Pacific, in a time frame from prehistory to the 18th century. The scope is staggering, but Calloway masters it, demonstrating a remarkable command of a broad spectrum of historical, ethnographic and archaeological sources including printed material and oral traditions. . . . One Vast Winter Count is both a major work in its own right and a magnificent first volume in Nebraskas new History of the American West series."Publishers Weekly (starred review) -- Larry McMurtry - New York Review of Books
Review
"A splendid overview of the Native American West to the end of the eighteenth century."Larry McMurtry, New York Review of Books -- Michael S. Green - Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 569-596) and index.
Synopsis
This magnificent, sweeping work traces the histories of the Native peoples of the American West from their arrival thousands of years ago to the early years of the nineteenth century. Emphasizing conflict and change, One Vast Winter Count offers a new look at the early history of the region by blending ethnohistory, colonial history, and frontier history. Drawing on a wide range of oral and archival sources from across the West, Colin G. Calloway offers an unparalleled glimpse at the lives of generations of Native peoples in a western land soon to be overrun.
About the Author
Colin G. Calloway is the Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies, professor of history, and chair of the Native American studies program at Dartmouth College. He is the coeditor of Germans and Indians: Fantasies, Projections, Encounters (Nebraska 2002) and the author of many works, including New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America.