A hundred years ago the great prairie region now comprising the states of Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota was regarded as unfit for human habitation. As late as the middle of the last century the maps of the United States included it within 'The Great American Desert, ' and successive waves of migration passed it by for what seemed more hospitable lands farther west. But now these prairie states, so completely ignored at first, have become one of the richest sections of the land, the agricultural heart of the country, and the seat, moreover, of a distinctive culture within the general American frame. The background of this culture, the conditions, problems, and struggles of pioneer life on the Sod-House Frontier from 1854 to 1890, is the theme of this important and fascinating book.

This work reflects part of the history of Wyoming coal mining. Much more needs to be written. To those that have produced written histories, historical overviews, and manuscripts we cited here, we extend thanks. To the archaeologists and historians who are studying Wyoming's past and attempting to preserve its lasting legacy, we applaud your efforts. The flight of time is not complete, but the history that has passed shows coal miners will be a part of the future. To those that are attempting to preserve the mining history of Wyoming and the West, we are grateful. And to men such as Steven Creasman and Gary Beach, who have the courage to dream and the willingness to persevere in attempting to save America's past, thank you. With the help of such unselfish individuals this work has been strengthened, but the responsibilities of accuracy fall to the authors alone.

"Anyone in search of the spirit of the Old West will find it in this book. In fact, any student in college taking a course in the history of the West or even in a general history of the United States should be required to read Dick's book; and when once the student had sniffed its atmosphere, the required would no longer be necessary."--Georgia Historical Quarterly "An entertaining and comprehensive collection. . . . The reader is sure to put Dick's book down with a fresh realization of the vigor, adventure, humor, tragedy, and endeavor that went into the development of our western country."--Annals of Wyoming "A highly satisfactory and completely disarming approach to the history of the West."-- Utah Historical Quarterly "A delightful anthology of western Americana by that great collector of social history, Professor Everett Dick."--Social Education "A great book for those who enjoy the history of how our West was won"--The Western Horseman

As the Civil War ended, thousands of Union veterans imagined Kansas as a place to make a new beginning. Many veterans settled in the southeastern part of the state. In their struggle to establish lawful, ordered communities the settlers came into conflict with railroads intent on building through southeast Kansas to reach warm-water ports in Texas. To the settlers the railroads represented both a promise and a threat. By linking farmers and businessmen with eastern markets, the railroads guaranteed the prospects of economic gain. However, when they claimed rights to the land that settlers had already claimed, railroad monopolies were identified as a new manifestation of the same threat to republican values they had fought against in the recently concluded War. This book tells the story of the settlers' opposition to and victory over railroads and the impact on the evolution of political thought in Kansas and the American west.

Arnold Bauer grew up on his family's 160-acre farm in Goshen Township in Clay County, Kansas, amidst a land of prairie grass and rich creek-bottom soil. His meditative and moving account of those years depicts a century-long narrative of struggle, survival, and demise. A coming-of-age memoir set in the 1930s to 50s, it blends local history with personal reflection to paint a realistic picture of farm life and families from a now-lost world. Bauer's was typical of true family farms, where wives supplemented family income by selling butter and eggs and children provided unpaid labor. These hardworking farmers were not particularly heroic or virtuous. They had their debts and doubts; but at the same time their struggles for a kind of moral economy offer valuable lessons that merit our attention today. Among Bauer's vivid recollections: driving a team of huge, clomping work horses; his father's daybreak call to long days in the field at age 12; and surviving eight years of education in a one-room schoolhouse (with one teacher determined to have all her students learn the harmonica). He shares the trials of Depression and drought, experiences the coming of electricity-which prompted his father to take on a sideline as an electrician-and reveals the vital importance of the local blacksmith. Throughout the book, he finds wonder in the commonplace, like going to town on a Saturday night for a black walnut ice cream cone. Here is a childhood that few in the United States will ever know. More than that, it is a key to understanding the tragedy that befell the smaller family farms on the Great Plains as sweeping changes after the mid-1950s-falling grain and livestock prices, adverse terms of trade for agricultural products-turned out to be more devastating than tornados or dust storms. Gracefully written with a keen eye for the telling detail, Time's Shadow eloquently captures the events of an era and the meaning it held for one boy and those around him. It is a refreshingly unsentimental "Little House on the Prairie" that will resonate not only with older compatriots but with anyone whose curiosity leads them to wonder about a world we have lost.