The Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience: The West of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister

by G. Edward White

• ISBN13: 9780292720657
• ISBN10: 0292720653
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1989-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

First published in 1968, The Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience has become a classic in the field of American studies.G. Edward White traces the origins of "the West of the imagination" to the adolescent experiences of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister--three Easterners from upper-class backgrounds who went West in the 1880s in search of an alternative way of life. Each of the three men came to identify with a somewhat idealized "Wild West" that embodied the virtues of individualism, self-reliance, and rugged masculinity. When they returned East, they popularized this image of the West through art, literature, politics, and even their public personae. Moreover, these Western virtues soon became and have remained American virtues--a patriotic ideal that links Easterners with Westerners. With a multidisciplinary blend of history, biography, sociology, psychology, and literary criticism, The Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience will appeal to a wide audience. The author has written a new preface, offering additional perspectives on the mythology of the West and its effect on the American character.

Table of Contents

American Studies Series	p. ii
Preface	p. ix
Preface to the Paperback Edition	p. xi
The East	p. 9
the Formation of an Eastern Establishment	p. 11
Easterners and the Western Experience, 1835-1885	p. 31
Remington, Roosevelt, Wister: the East and Adolescence	p. 52
The West	p. 75
Roosevelt's West: the Beat of Hardy Life	p. 79
Remington's West: Men with the Bark On	p. 94
Wister's West: the Cowboy as Cultural Hero	p. 122
East and West in the Decade of Consensus	p. 145
the Rough Riders: Regiment of True Americans	p. 149
Technocracy and Arcadia: Conservation Under Roosevelt	p. 171
Roosevelt,Remington,Wister: Consensus and the West	p. 184
References	p. 203
Index	p. 235
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