Making and unmaking myths of the American frontier

Abstract

Despite an extensive and expanding body of scholarly studies, myths and myth-making remain a central element of the American West. After placing myth-making about the American West in a wider context, this article explores recent literature about the centrality of myths in envisioning the region. For example, scholars have debunked three of the West's central myths, rugged individualism, American exceptionalism and frontier violence, but all remain alive and well in popular culture and political rhetoric. Among the specific topics analysed are mythologized people (George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody), places (Monument Valley) and cultural production (political, commercial, visual and print). The article also probes the motives and varieties of myth-makers, past and present, and the ways in which women and Native American writers today challenge mythical depictures in traditional western popular culture.

The Land of Opportunity: Bioarchaeological Perspectives of Women’s Lives in the Industrial Expansion into the Western UNITED STATES (1850–1915)

“…The most conspicuous foreign element, however, was the Chinese, of whom Silver City absorbed a substantial number. At the height of mining activity, in 1874, they numbered at least 700, and boasted a thriving Chinatown" at a time when this section of the country was still part of what people in the cities back East and in the dime-store novels referred to as the Wild West or American Frontier (Athearn 1986;Christensen 2002;McWilliams 1931;Slatta 2010;Slotkin 1998;Smith 1978). We would caution that these areas were not "wild" or "frontiers," as they had been inhabited by Indigenous groups for thousands of years and the history of the region is complex and diverse.…”

The Frontier Myth in U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Communication

“…Tales of mythical heroes in the wilderness glorify the values of bravery, ruggedness, and individualism, as well as spiritual purity, ingenuity, and stewardship (Smith, 1950;Dorsey, 1995;Nash, 2001;Slatta, 2010;Jones, 2011). In addition to the dominant image of the cowboy (Slatta, 2010), frontier heroes in the U.S. context also appear as the Jeffersonian yeoman farmer (Smith, 1950;Peterson, 1990), whose stewardship role requires physical strength, independence, and mindfulness toward nature. These yeoman frontier figures are valued because of their ability to harmonize with nature (Goodwyn, 1971).…”

“…The frontier myth has been the subject of much deliberation by historians and communication scholars (Rushing, 1983;Slotkin, 1985;Peterson, 1990;Dorsey, 1995;Slatta, 2010;Jones, 2011), and it remains a ubiquitous and controversial referent in contemporary culture. Scholars (Short, 1989;Dorsey, 1995;Tirman, 2009) have noted that U.S. presidents continue to evoke and invoke the frontier.…”

“…Despite our hopeful outlook, we recognize that any serious effort to build coalitions from a shared identification with the frontier myth requires both recognition and repudiation of the central role played by frontier imagery in the intentional decimation of Native American populations (Slotkin, 1985;Nash, 2001), the wanton destruction of centuries-old forests (Worster, 1994), and other efforts to subjugate Earth and its inhabitants (Slotkin, 1985;Worster, 1994;Tirman, 2009;Slatta, 2010). Further inquiry into indigenous perspectives toward offshore wind energy and other LCETs may contribute to de-colonializing the energy system and directing energy system change toward less oppressive relationships, and even toward building opportunities for energy justice and energy democracy that explicitly protect the sovereignty of people who have been historically marginalized (see, for example, Clarke, 2010;Imasato, 2010;de Onís, 2018;Na'puti, 2019).…”

Comparing and Exploring Frontier Myth and Reality in Latin America

“…The cultural and ideological roots of these myths await further probing, along the lines of recent scholarship on the American West. 31 Thanks to the globalization of knowledge, all historiographies can benefit from cross-fertilization by works focused on frontiers elsewhere.…”