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Paul Sharp's Whoop Up Country is about the Whoop Up trail that was on the North American Plains. At the very beginning he tells you exactly where the trail is in today's terms and locality. Sharp shows just how important the trail was to military forts, cattle ranches, Indian reservations, and army camps. This trail helped the fur trade get their supplies so that they could trade with the local Indians. They would trade guns, whiskey, knives, and other things for buffalo robes. These fur forts were necessary for the Indians to survive. The steamboats were also a vital part of the trail because it was the fastest way to get any supplies to the plains. The steamboats could only operate in this country due to freezing, but they did their job well.
Sharp describes the American and Canadian view of Indians and how different they were. The Americans had a sense of lawlessness on the Plains. The Canadians had a lot of different Mounted Police and made sure that no one was doing that they weren't supposed to do. They made the settlement possible in Canada. In the U.S., the policing came from the settlement that was already there.
This book was very interesting because it talked about a regional area. It was how this part of the world survived and came to be. The way that the area was policed was really cool to learn about because the way that the Canadians did a whole lot and the Americans did some, but it was slow going. This book is was very well researched and written and shows a great picture that slowly faded away due to railroads and automobiles.
Thomas Casler