Webblog

"An infinite drama has been going on in those wide open spaces of the West; a drama that is as thrilling, as full of heart and hope and battle, as any that ever surrounded any man; a life that was unlike any ever seen on the earth." ~ Hamlin Garland

To me this quote says it as well as can be when referring to the explanation the Great Plains. The way that Garland portrays the Great Plains in this quote, makes almost anyone stop and read it over again, in order to imagine or place them selves in that setting and in that time. On the other hand although Webb didn’t exactly quote that phrase, he did include it in his book. But what he didn't include was any type of passages that he may have wrote that touched on a romantic and calming view such as the one by Garland. Instead Webb focused on the human interacting with the Plains environment. Or was it the environment interacting with the human. Personally, I believe that it was much of both. I would have liked to see Webb explore more into the cultural aspects of the Plains people and talk about there perceptions of the plains and the cultural adaptations that took place. Instead, he felt the need to inform us about the Plains' vast and great history as well as the adaptations to the plains environment that took place. Which I may add, was not all a bad thing; for I enjoyed many aspects of his book, but I feel he may have sucked us in more if he himself would have seen the Plains as "interesting", "strange", and "romantic", as he quoted.

This book got me thinking more then one time. The first time it hit me was when as I was reading the chapters that covered the life of the Plains Indians and how the buffalo was the staple of their lives, and how the buffalo was indeed the one animal that has every influenced a group of people to such an extent. It always makes me ponder what it would be like if the plains and prairies were still untamed, lawless, and home to the millions of buffalo and thousands of Indians. What a change that occurred, and what it must have been like to be those Indians who's way of life changed forever. Their territory, food, and lifestyle were all taken.

Then I get hooked on the chapters regarding the great railroads, the cattle kingdom, the Homestead Act of 1862, and one of my favorites the discovery of underground water on the plains. The discovery and then the ability to access water on the prairie changed the settlement of the plains as dramatically as can be imagined. Without a constant and reliable source of water, no one or hardly any thing could survive in this 'unforgiving' land. After that Webb of course touched on the great inventions of the "six-shooter", barbed wire, windmills, and many more. All of which changed the plains environment and the settlers on it as signs of adaptation began to flourish.

In conclusion, Webb's book covers several centuries of history of the Great Plains, from the first explorers on it, to the Native Americans who had inhabited it for centuries before that, to the first inventions that made a safer and more survivable lifestyle for those who took the opportunity and the challenge of being some of he first to modernize and break the Great Plains of America. Webb's book gave all who read it the opportunity to see how within several decades an entire region can be changed. From the culture and the native people in it, to the landscape and to the wildlife on it; the Anglo-Americans that took over the Great Plains of America were able to change an entire region in a matter of years, to a point where it can never be returned to its original state and with its original inhabitants and their unique ways of life.