The Legacy of Broken Concord in the American West

Violence has long shaped and scarred the history of the American frontier. That is true of both older and newer western histories. By contrast, my most recent book offers what I call “an alternative history of the American West” that shifts the focus to individuals and people on the American frontier who overcame past animosities to chart a possible path towards peace and friendship. That these paths proved historical cul-de-sacs do not diminish their importance then and now. For my presentation and the discussion at this panel, I will outline the contours of this alternative history and the relation to the “mainstream” of western American history, explain how amicable relations of varying degrees and durations developed unexpectedly at specific places and times, and suggest a few of the lessons we might take from this legacy of opened, if ultimately broken, concord.