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Walter Webb's book, The Great Plains, describes the importance of the Plains, and how it has shaped those who settled on it and those who continue to settle on it. Webb begins with the physical aspect of the Plains. The Great Plains, as Webb describes it, is level, treeless, and semi-arid, not an area of great attraction. He discusses the climate, the Plains plant life and it's animal life. After the description of the physical aspect he went on to discuss the Native Americans that lived on the Plains.The chapters that followed included horses, Spaniards, six- shooter, barbed wire and transportation, the windmill and irrigation, the law of the land and water, Plains literature and the mysteries of the Plains.
Through out his book, Webb continually described how the land and the environment shaped those that lived off it. The windmill was used through out the Plains, it was adapted for survival of the Plains. As Webb said in his book, "It was the acre or two of ground irrigated by the windmill that enabled the homesteader to hold on when all others had to leave. It made the difference between starvation and livelihood." The land and environment forced and adaptation for survival.
I found a few parts of the book especially interesting. I had not known anything about the six-shooter or its origin and found it fascinating. I had not realized that the six-shooter made such an impact on Plains history. Barbed wire was another part of the book I found interesting. Barbed wire is such a small part of everyday life that made a huge impact. Its funny that there was such a disagreement on it. The small part on introducing camels to the Plains was my favorite- it made me laugh.
I had a hard time reading Webb's book at first, but as I began to read further into it I found it to be more interesting and fun to read. I have lived on the Plains all my life and thought I knew everything that I needed to know about the area, but learned differently after I finished Webb's book. I did find it hard to believe that Webb did not include women in his book and thought so lowly of Native Americans. I think that both women and Native Americans contributed greatly to the history of the Plains and should be given credit for that. I enjoyed this book and found it beneficial to this course.