History / American West and Midwest

Examines the surprising degree of interaction between various Northern Plains tribes on the Crow reservation in South Dakota from 1800 to 1925, tracing the development of pan-Indian identity among the once-warring peoples—and challenging the concept of tribalism as it has long been understood by scholars.

The first environmental history of skiing in Colorado. Traces the recreation’s rise in popularity as a way of examining major changes in public land management in the American West during the last century. Shows how what started as an innocent leisurely pursuit has morphed into a multi-billion dollar business that forever changed the landscape of Colorado and brought with it serious environmental consequences.

Over thirty years in the making, cast at the intersection of memory, myth and history, Three Roads to Magdalena is an examination of what it meant to grow up Hispanic, Navajo, and Anglo over the span of a century in west-central New Mexico, a region characterized by both inter-group conflict and accommodation.

This first book-length study of “Indian country” explains why the federal government failed to protect the congressionally-designated refuge (west of Missouri and Arkansas) for displaced Native Americans. Argues that the federal policy was flawed from the start and that the supposed refuge endured only until the needs of westward expansion made those promises inconvenient.