GhostWest : reflections past and present / Ann Ronald.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ronald, Ann, 1939-

Series:

Literature of the American West ; v. 7.

Literature of the American West ; v. 7

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historic sites--West (U.S.).

Historic sites.

Haunted places--West (U.S.).

Haunted places.

West (U.S.)--History, Local.

West (U.S.).

West (U.S.)--Folklore.

West (U.S.)--In literature.

Natural history--West (U.S.).

Natural history.

Physical Description:

viii, 246 pages : map ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, [2002]

Summary:

Our sense of place today is permeated by ghosts from the past. In GhostWest, Ann Ronald takes the reader to actual historical sites where something once happened. Using the metaphor of hauntings, she reflects on how western history, literature, and lore continue to shape our visceral impressions of these sites. Some of the locations might be characterized as tourist points; others are far more obscure, often deserted and forlorn. Many of the people involved had no sense of history as such. As Ronald writes, "They saw before them a territory with a future, not a past. That they were writing themselves into history as well never occurred to them." In chapters both lyrical and thoughtful, passionate and humorous, GhostWest covers sites in seventeen western states, including the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, Willa Cather's Nebraska prairies, and the Murrah Building bombing site in Oklahoma. Through these settings and their phantoms, the author mulls questions about why we find such ambience and artifacts so compelling.

Contents:

Introduction: Shadowed Places 3

1 Montana: Battle Stations 11

2 Kansas: Buffalo Grounds 27

3 Texas: Cowboy Country 33

4 Wyoming: A Rendezvous 53

5 Colorado: Savage Basins 59

6 Oregon: Sand and Sea 81

7 North Dakota: Train Time 87

8 Nevada: Buried Bones 109

9 California: Sand Castles 113

10 Arizona: The Old Pueblo 131

11 Nebraska: Catherland 135

12 New Mexico: Land of Enchantment 153

13 South Dakota: Sculptured Stone 159

14 Oklahoma: Shades of the Past 171

15 Utah: Glen Canyon Reservoir 177

16 Idaho: Lava Land 197

17 Washington: Ancient Forests 203.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-246).

ISBN:

0806133902

OCLC:

47690527