Seminar in Western America: Wyoming, Spring 2003
Office: 356 History, 766-5101 or 5311 Wed., 7-9:30 p.m.
Home: 745-8205 E-mail: philr@uwyo.edu
Course Objective: This course will explore the major issues involving the people, politics, economy, environment and culture in Wyoming history through reading, researching, writing and class discussions. The course will include a thorough survey of the secondary literature as well as an exploration in primary source materials. Research and writing skills will be emphasized through work on the final paper, ideally of publishable quality.
Course Requirements: The essential requirement for this course is diligent reading and thinking about Wyoming issues and their history. Completion of several informal and/or comparative book reviews will be required as well as oral contributions to class discussions. Additionally, because the history of Wyoming is ever-changing and contemporary issues are based on earlier events, students are expected to read about Wyoming issues regularly as articles about such issues appear in the national and regional press. Also required is an understanding of regional geography, either through map study or by other means. The course grade will be based primarily on the reviews, class participation, and a final paper, the topic for which will be chosen in consultation with the instructor.
Required Materials:
Chicago Manual of Style (latest edition). Students should be aware of the availability of the manual on line. For purposes of this course, such use is an acceptable substitute for the printed version.
Sam Western, Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River. (Moose: Homestead Publishing, 2002).
Matilda Hansen, Clear Use of Power: A Slice of Wyoming Political History. (Laramie: Commentary Press, 2002).
Access to four history journals: Annals of Wyoming, Western Historical Quarterly, Western Legal History, Montana: Magazine of Western History, and familiarity with state/regional history journals from adjacent states, accessible in Coe Library's serials collection.
Recommended But Not Required:
T. A. Larson, History of Wyoming. (rev. ed. 1978).
Robert Gunning. The Technique of Clear Writing.
Strunk and White. Elements of Style.
Francis Paul Prucha. Handbook for Research in American History: Guide to Bibliographies and Other Reference Works.
Phil, David L., Steven L. Roberts, Wyoming Almanac. (5th ed., revised)
Phil Roberts, ed., Readings in Wyoming History. (3rd revised ed.)
"Book Reviews": The first half of the semester is designed to allow exploration of the literature in Wyoming history. Class discussions for each week will be based on readings, two read commonly but most individually assigned. Each student will be asked to write a one-page summary on the book read. (There is no expectation that the paper follow any particular form or format. The purpose is to get the student into the habit of keeping "reminder reviews" of each book read).
Formal Paper: Each student will complete a formal essay/research paper which may take one of several forms. It may be a chapter of a longer study such as a thesis, dissertation or book. It may be a self-contained article about a particular issue in the history of Wyoming. Whatever the form, the product should be the result of careful reading of existing works on the topic as well as sound, careful, original research.
Presentations will be scheduled for the final weeks of the semester. Each presenter will also serve as a "commentator" during the final weeks. The commentator will lead the [constructive] discussion about the book. He/she will be responsible for checking footnote citations and bibliography. All students will be expected to have read and critiqued each presenter's paper before the night of his/her presentation. Each will provide the presenter with constructive suggestions which may take the form of a brief written report or legible suggestions written on the draft. In either case, they must be returned to the presenter on the evening of his/her presentation.
Each presenter will be responsible for seeing that each student in the class receives a copy of the draft on the Friday before the presentation is to be made. You are responsible for making enough copies for all members of the class. Unfortunately, you cannot make copies in the history department. (Don't even ask). Therefore, you should plan on using the student union copy center, Kinko's, etc. Following (constructive) class critiques of drafts, students will have time to prepare the final, formal document. The category of the topic will determine when you will present. The final product, due no later than the last day of the semester (May 13), should conform to a recognized style, preferably Chicago Manual of Style or a recognized alternative. Deadlines are important; therefore, no late papers will be accepted.
*Readings to be completed and assignments due on the listed dates.
Jan. 22: Introduction
Jan. 29: Wyoming History: An Introduction to the Survey Works
Reading: Each student will be asked to examine, read and assess one Wyoming history survey book and one survey book written for “younger readers.” Some will be "historic" in themselves while others are contemporary; some were written by professional historians and others, by lay people. During class, students will be asked to describe the particular work he/she examined and the class will compare and contrast the various approaches, styles, sources and reliability of each work.
The books:
Bartlett, History of Wyoming (1918)
Beard, Wyoming from Territorial Days to the Present (1933)
Coutant, History of Wyoming from the Earliest Known Discoveries.... (1899)
Flynn, Tribal Government: Wind River Reservation (1998)
Larson, History of Wyoming (1965)
Larson, Wyoming: A Bicentennial History (1978)
For younger readers:
Adams and Sodaro, Frontier Spirit (1986)
Bragg, Wyoming Rugged But Right (1979)
Campbell and Jordan, Discovering Wyoming (1989)
Garst, Story of Wyoming (1938)
Hebard, History and Government of Wyoming (1919, 1921, 1923, 1926)
Linford, Wyoming: Frontier State (1947)
Trenholm and Carley, Wyoming Pageant (1946)
Whittenburg, Wyoming's People (1958)
Travel guidebooks were among the first works describing Wyoming to the rest of the world. Each student will be assigned a "modern guidebook" and one "historic guidebook." The student will be asked to describe the works in class. Such aspects as the nature and quality of the works, the accuracy (as close as one can do so), and the presumed audience ought to be taken into consideration. Each student will submit a brief 3-5 page "comparative" review of the two works.
Fremont, Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842…(1845) & Pitcher, Wyoming
Handbook (1991)
Parkman, The Oregon Trail & Jacobs, Western Journey (1988), Cobb, Parkman’s Trace (1998)
Triggs, History of Cheyenne and Northern Wyoming (1876) & Jordan, Wyoming: A Sourcebook (1996)
Irving, Adventures of Captain Bonneville & Bonney/Bonney, Guide to Wyoming Mountains and Wilderness Areas (1977)
Spring, WPA Guide to Wyoming (1941) & Moulton, Roadside History of Wyoming (1995)
Strahorn, Handbook of Wyoming and Guide to the Black Hills (1877) & Wyoming Business Council website
Wyoming State Board of Immigration, The Territory of Wyoming: Its History, Soil, Climate... (1873) & Nagel and Nix,
Wyoming Futures Project: History and Critique, 1985-1988.
Munkres, Saleratus and Sagebrush (1974) & Franzwa, Oregon Trail Revisited (1997)
Doyle, Journey to the Land of Gold (2 vols). & Burt, Wyoming (1991)
Osborne Russell, Journal of a Trapper & Betts, Along the Ramparts of the Tetons (1978)
Stansbury, Exploration and Survey of the Valley of Great Salt Lake (1852) & Trevathan, More Than Meets the Eye (1993)
Moulton, Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.* & Junge, Wyoming: A Guide to Historic Sites (1976)
Munkres, Saleratus and Sagebrush (1974) & Franzwa, Oregon Trail Revisited (1997)
Doyle, Journey to the Land of Gold (either of 2 vols). & Lonely Planet's Guide to the Northern Rocky Mountain States.
Lovejoy, Auto Guide to Wyoming (in Lovejoy collection, AHC) & Franzwa, Lincoln Highway (1995)
Gladding, Across the Continent by the Lincoln Highway (1915) & Hokanson, Lincoln Highway: Main Street Across
America (1988)
Feb. 12: 19th Century Wyoming Events and Issues.
Each individual will be assigned selections from works focusing on a particular aspect of the history of 19th century Wyoming. Secondary works and/or primary documents on subjects ranging from the fur trade rendezvous to the Rock Springs massacre and the Johnson County Invasion will be assigned.
Feb. 19: Biography/Memoirs
Each student will be assigned a selection/selections from a collective biography and a longer work. In a brief review, students will compare/contrast the methods, approaches and reliability of each work.
Collective Biographies (individual selections will be assigned from these)
Beach, Women of Wyoming (1927)
Brown, First Ladies of Wyoming (1990)
Hafen, Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West.
Mead, Wyoming in Profile (1982)
Progressive Men of the State of Wyoming (1903)
Murphy, Wyoming: A 20th Century History (1999)
Woods, Wyoming Biographies (1991)
Possible specific works include: (this is not an exclusive list)
Arnold, Fair Fights and Foul (1951) LaFors, Wyoming Peace Officer (1953)
Brooks, Memoirs (1939) Murie, Wapiti Wilderness (1985)
Chatterton, Memoirs (1948) Olson, Ranch on the Laramie (1973)
Beck, The Damned Elk Et My Broom (1976) Spring, Caspar Collins (1927)
Brown, Inga and Harry (1995) Talbot, My People of the Plains (1906)
David, Malcolm Campbell, Sheriff (1932) Williams, Aven Nelson of Wyoming (1984)
Davis, Sadie and Charlie (1989) Woods, Moreton Frewen's Western Adventures (1986)
Jackson, Time Exposure (1940) Woods, John Clay, Jr.: Commission Man, Rancher (2001)
Feb. 26: 20th Century Wyoming Issues. Common Reading: Sam Western, Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River. Additional individual assignments may be made from books, periodicals and journals.
March 5: Wyoming Politics.
Common Reading: Matilda Hansen, Clear Use of Power.
For individual readings, sections will be assigned from: Erwin, Trenholm, et al, Wyoming Historical Bluebook (1946, 1974); legislative handbooks (1950-present).
March 12: Discussion of primary source materials. Research topics due.
March 19: No class. Spring break.
March 26: Agriculture and Ranching. Research outlines due.
Among the assigned books will be:
Adams, Log of a Cowboy. Davis, A Vast Amount of Trouble.
Abbott, We Pointed Them North. Gressley, Bankers and Cattlemen.
James Brisbin, Beef Bonanza. Guernsey, Wyoming Cowboy Days (1936)
Helena Huntington Smith, War on Powder River Frink, Cow Country Cavalcade (1954)
Clay, My Life on the Plains Rollinson, Hoofprints of a Cowboy (1941)
A. S. Mercer, Banditti of the Plains. Spring, 70 Years: A Panoramic History of the WSGA (1943)
April 2: Mining, Oil, Extractive Industries.
Examples include: History of the Union Pacific Mines; Roberts, Salt Creek; Noggle, Teapot Dome; True biography.
April 9: Discussion of primary materials (continued).
April 16: Wyoming in Fiction, Popular Culture. Preliminary drafts due.
April 23: "Today's News": Economic Development, Public Lands, Other Issues.
April 30: Research presentations begin.
May 7: Research presentations continued.
May 13: Research presentations (if needed).
Final papers due: May 13.