How rural northerners from New England to North Dakota met the rise of industrial society and consumer culture. Between 1870 and 1930, communities in the rural North faced a number of challenges. Author Hal S. Barron shows that by consolidating traditional rural values and agrarian fundamentalism, country people successfully created a distinct rural subculture that continued well into the 20th century. Illustrated.

"By 1910, the forest region of the Great Lakes states was largely denuded, logged over by industrialists who coveted its timber, particularly the giant white pine. After unsuccessful attempts to farm this "cutover" region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, a group of visionaries began to dream of restoring the North Woods as a place of solace and beauty, of recreation and retreat, for the benefit of people ever more remote from the splendors of nature. What ensued was an extraordinary campaign to recreate the original Midwest forest - the Great Lakes Crusade that James Kates chronicles in this enlightening, deeply interesting, and entertaining account of a "natural" wonderland remade from the ground up."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved