The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the West

by Tate, Michael L.

• ISBN13: 9780806131733
• ISBN10: 080613173X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr

Summary

Books, art, and movies most often portray the frontier army in continuous conflict with Native Americans. In truth, the army spent only a small part of its frontier duty fighting Indians; as the main arm of the federal government in less-settled regions of the nation, the army performed a host of duties. The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the Westexamines the army's nonmartial contributions to western development. Dispelling timeworn stereotypes, Michael L. Tate shows that the army conducted explorations, compiled scientific and artistic records, built roads, aided overland travelers, and improved river transportation. Army posts offered nuclei for towns, and soldiers delivered federal mails, undertook agricultural experiments, and assembled weather records for forecasting. The "multipurpose" army also provided telegraph service, extended relief to destitute civilians, and protected early national parks.

Author Biography

Michael L. Tate, Professor of History at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is the author of several books and many articles on the history of American Indians and the American West.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xvii
Discoverers: Military Scientists, Ethnologists, and Artists in the New Empire	3	(26)
Encountering the Elephant: Army Aid to Emigrants on the Platte River Road	29	(23)
Across and On the Wide Missouri: The Army's Role in Western Transportation and Communication	52	(28)
Posse Comitatus in Blue: The Soldier as Frontier Lawman	80	(31)
Dining at the Government Trough: Army Contracts and Payrolls as Community Builders	111	(39)
Uncle Sam's Farmers: Soldiers as Agriculturalists and Meteorologists	150	(24)
Hippocrates in Blue: Army Doctors on the Frontier	174	(19)
Reform the Man: Post Chapels, Schools, and Libraries	193	(20)
Sharpening the Eagle's Talons for Domestic Duties: The Army in Public Relief Work and in Protecting the National Parks	213	(24)
In Defense of ``Poor Lo'': Military Advocacy for Native American Rights	237	(23)
Documenting the Experience: Soldier Journalists, Autobiographers, and Novelists	260	(22)
Life after Soldiering: Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Retirees	282	(22)
Conclusion	304	(15)
Notes	319	(52)
Bibliography	371	(66)
Index	437