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Walter Webb’s The Great Plains explains many interesting aspects of the plains area. Webb thoroughly explains the history, physical geography, climates, the different cultures and the plant and animal life. He also wrote about all the explorers that came through the plains and wrote about the savage-like Indians. It did seem somewhat racist but I believe that when Webb wrote the book in 1931 people were not worried about being politically correct. So the racism is somewhat expected. Though he speaks down about the Indians, I found it interesting that he seemed to like the Comanche Indians. Mainly just for their ability to ride horses and use their bow and arrow. This is somewhat ironic to me because I think that being able to swing under the horse and shoot their arrows sounds savage like. Yet he seems to think differently about it. He also goes into how the plains people used many different things to adapt to the area. They used things like the Osage trees to make fences, windmills, and barbwire. All things that were essential for everyday life that today could be taken for granted.
After the first chapter the book became more and more interesting to me. I think that Webb did a good job of capturing the essence of the plains. I really enjoyed how the book flows along with the lectures. I find that to be very beneficial because after the lectures I would read the book looking to learn more about what we talked about in class.