History 340 - The American West in Fact and Fiction

The American western "frontier" has caught our imaginations in many different ways: as myth and symbol, as photograph and painting, as costume and politics, as definer and re-definer of gender and race, as technological challenge, and much more. Through individual and group readings, through discussion and bibliographical exploration, we will pursue the elusive "truth" of the American western frontier.

The basic perspective upon which the course will rest--the razor-sharp edge between "fact" and "fiction"-- seems, at first, quite obvious, but, as we progress through our discussions, the complexities implied by this perspective will become clearer.

The West is often chronicled in terms of dichotomies of "good guys" and "bad guys," (with due emphasis on the "guys"): Indians & "white" men, outlaws &
law-abiding citizens, environmentalists & exploiters of the land, creative individualists & unimaginative conformists, open-range enthusiasts & fence-loving farmers, lush valley residents & the rugged desert-dwellers, the untamed/free & the civilized...

The perspective we take here is that all of these images are both myth and reality, that the "good guys" and the "bad guys" are not so easily distinguishable, (nor were they all guys) and that there is enough heroism--and enough villain-ism--to go around to all groups.

Movie Discussion Schedule:

Please be prepared to discuss the movie on the following dates: (movies are available at reserve desk in Magill for overnight or 4-hours during the day)

A two-page paper is due on the Tuesday following each discussion.

Reading Schedule:

All articles are from the Pacific Historical Review. Please bring your marked-up copies of the readings to class with you on the following dates:

Jan. 27--Van Alstyne, Richard. "History and the Imagination." 33:1964, 1-24.
Feb 3--Nasatir, Abraham. "Shifting Borderlands." 34:1965, 1-20.
Feb 10--Riley, Glenda. "Not Gainfully Employed" 49:1980, 237-264.
Feb 17--Hinckley, Ted. "American Anti-Catholicism during the Mexican War." 31:1962, 121-138.
Feb 24--Rodman, Wilson Paul. "Mining Frontiers..." 33.1964, 25-34 and Phillips, George, "Indians in Los Angeles, 1781-1875." 49:1980, 427-452.
Mar 2--Griswold, Robert. "Apart but not Adrift [about divorce]." 49:1980, 265-284 and Jensen, Joan. "Gentle Tamers Revisited." [about stereotypes of frontier women] 49:1980, 173-213.
Mar 9--deGraaf, Lawrence. "Race, Sex and Region...." 49:1980, 285-314.
Mar 16--Riley, Glenda. "Women on the Panama Trail...1849-1869." 55:1986, 531-548.
Mar 23--Kazin, Michael. "The Great Exception Revisted..Labor in San Francisco and Los Angeles, 1870-1940." 55:1986, 371-402.
Mar 30--White, Richard. " Poor Men on Poor Lands." 49:1980, 105-131.
Apr. 6--Garcia, Mario. "The Chicana in American History...1880-1920." 49:1980, 315-338.
Apr. 13--Sandos, James A. "Prostitution and Drugs...Mexican American Border 1916-1917." 49:1980, 621-646 and Bayard, Charles, "The 1927-28 Colorado Coal Strike." 32:1963, 235-250
Apr. 20--Scruggs, Otey. "Texas and the Bracero Program." 32:1963, 235-250 and Underwood, Grant, "Revisioning Mormon History." 55;1986, 403-426.
Apr. 27--Dunlap, Thomas, "American Wildlife Policy." 55:1986, 345-370.

Assignments and grading:

*Disclaimer: this syllabus is only a representation of how the course has been taught; it is not necessarily an indication of how the course will be conducted in future semesters.

Return to Haverford College Home Page

Return to Lapsansky Home Page.

This page last updated 3/02.