Picture of author.
7 teosta 304 jäsentä 2 arvostelua

Tietoja tekijästä

Includes the name: Paula M. Marks

Tekijän teokset

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Precious Dust: The Saga of the Western Gold Rushes by Paula Mitchell Marks was originally published in 1994. My paperback copy is 448 pages, including the notes, bibliography, and index. In the opening of her book, Marks tells us that: "In tracing the impact of this experience on the seekers, the book also traces some of the broader implications of the gold rushes that galvanized western communities, whole regions, and the nation itself for over half a century....In addition, this narrative shows how the rushes both contributed to a distinctive frontier culture and exposed some of the tensions and paradoxes in American culture." pg. 14

There is also a special note about how Marks has chosen to organize her book:
"The first chapter provides a chronological overview of the rush decades. Then, because the journeys to the goldfields loomed large in many stampeders' experience, the next four chapters focus on the arduous 'getting there'; for clarity's sake in describing the various trails taken, I have made those chapter chronological as well."
"...in Chapter six...the general approach shifts from the chronological to the thematic in order better to explore the gold rushes as a whole in relationship to specific topics: The challenge of gleaning the gold and of life in the diggings; the growth of the gold rush urban areas; the problems of building communities...;the distinct treatment of and experiences of minorities; the complex home ties....and the presence, effect, and experiences of women in the rushes." pg. 16

The way in which the book is organized actually makes it much more interesting to the causal reader, although she has done a fine job writing material for the more scholarly readers as well, with the inclusion of notes and a bibliography. If you are interested in any of the gold rushes and their larger social implications, this book is highly recommended with a rating of 5. http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
SheTreadsSoftly | Mar 21, 2016 |
My reactions upon reading this book in 1991.

It’s hard to tell what happened October 26, 1881 in the vacant lot between Fly’s Boarding House and Harwood’s house.

There are many different versions.

I don’t think the Earps went to kill the McLaurey’s and Clantons. Ike Clanton’s story that the Earps were gunning for him isn’t backed up by the attention paid to killing Billy Clanton and Frank McLaurey and not him. I think Doc Holliday or Morgan Earp, both impetous and not as worried about their law enforcement futures as Virgil or Wyatt, opened fire first, or it very probably was an accidental shooting triggered by the unarmed Tom McLaurey opening his coat. Virgil seems to have been too calm and even-handed to have delibrately set out to kill the Clantons and McLaureys. Wyatt seems unlikely to have done so either. He seems to have preferred pistol whipping and slapping (things that show up again and again in his various jobs as law officer) to outright shooting, and his remark that shooting the cowboys wasn’t worth any money to him is revealing and truthful. There seems no denying, though, that Wyatt genuinely provoked Ike Clanton and Tom McLaurey -- who didn’t take the bait -- the morning of the fight. Perhaps he was just very angry at the threats Ike made against his friend Doc Holliday and brother Virgil.

Marks' narrative shows there may be truth behind those Western cliches of factional fighting. But here the truth is much more complicated than any movie or novel. The conflict was more than just between cowboys and townsmen. It was also between political parties, economic interests, gambler and cowboys and, ultimately, between those with different attitudes on private justice. Rustlers had an ambiguous relationship with the ranchers who supported them: part friendship, part extortion. I was amazed at the bloodbath unleashed by the gunfight: the Stilwell and Morgan shootings and John Ringo’s mysterious death and the unknown fate of Curly Bill Brocius who may have been killed by Wyatt..

The fate of all concerned was interesting and strange in a way only reality can be. Wyatt’s last years were both pathetic, in the rewriting of his past, and annoying .
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
RandyStafford | Oct 8, 2012 |

Palkinnot

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Tilastot

Teokset
7
Jäseniä
304
Suosituimmuussija
#77,406
Arvio (tähdet)
4.1
Kirja-arvosteluja
2
ISBN:t
13

Taulukot ja kaaviot