The Great Divide: The Rocky Mountains in the American Mind
by Gary Ferguson

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Book Reviews of The Great Divide: The Rocky Mountains in the American Mind

Book Review: Interesting enough to read through to the end
Summary: 3 Stars

Summary of The Great Divide: The Rocky Mountains in the American Mind

For most of our nation's history, Americans have identified with the "purple mountain majesties" of the Rockies. Trappers and debutantes, miners and missionaries, artists and drinkers, escaped slaves, independent women abandoning hoopskirts, and assorted black sheep of respectable families have all sought refuge and inspiration there. This spectacular landscape has always offered a sense of freedom from crowds and conformity-a world, as Frederic Remington described it, "beyond derby hats and mortgages bearing eight percent."

Gary Ferguson spins magnificent tales about the vivid characters who have peopled this majestic region, from the original Indian inhabitants and their interactions with European explorers, to the delirious victims of gold rush fever, to hippies in the Sixties, to today's adventure travelers in high-tech outerwear toting satellite phones into the wild. Throughout, he explores the ebbs and flows of America's attitude toward the vast expanses that embody our sense of freedom.

West Books

• History > Americas > United States > State & Local
• General