Preface

M A X W E S T B R O O K University of Texas Preface When the Puritans set sail to cross the Atlantic, they were not going to a small, manageable island. Their destination was a continent, a new world. Their mission, as described with the bias of European civilization, was to establish a beachhead, a first settlement on the beginning edge of a land that was enormous, mysterious, frightening, and challenging. Clearly, the territory later called the American West was going to play a major role in the development of the nation they hoped to establish. The Puritans had little knowledge of what lay beyond their foothold on the New England coast, but early explorers had told of vast lands, strange natives, and incredible variety. The continent to the west of Plymouth and Jamestown, with its millions of undeveloped acres, added a massive physicality to the Puritan adventure in religious and political freedom. As religion receded from politics and democratic capitalism devel­ oped, the West provided opportunities for the poor and temptations to the exploiter, thus making the American experiment a realistic testing ground for democracy. A chapter in history began to unfold, a chapter character­ ized by the materials that inspire myth-makers. Both marvelous and terrible, the development of the West came to be symbolized in the Ameri­ can mind by pioneering, Indian wars and cattle drives, by the talismanic figure of the cowboy—a merging of Hispanic and Anglo traditions—by the heroic yet shameful railroad story, by miners, farmers, and loggers; and, at the end of the trail in the promised land of California there was a pot of gold. Back east, White House policies and Congressional debates often centered on the lands and riches of the West. From colonial times to the present day, recognition of the importance of the West to American history has been clear and continuous. 104 Western American Literature The importance of western literature as a part of our national litera­ ture, however, has not been established. With professors and readers of history, the frontier has always been a respected topic. With professors and readers of literature, to mention frontier stories is to invoke automatic thoughts of popular stereotypes. While the term “western history” may suggest Thomas Macaulay, Francis Parkman, Washington Irving, Henry Nash Smith, Frederick Jackson Turner, Bernard DeVoto, and Richard Hofstadter, the term “western literature” suggests for most such names as Owen Wister, Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, and various Hollywood actors from Tom Mix to John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. The contributing authors of A Literary History of the American West have avoided the polemical trap of a special pleading and concentrated on presenting and analyzing their assigned topics. Yetone of the major under­ lying purposes of A Literary History of the American West is, by demon­ stration rather than defensiveness, to support the on-going introduction of western literary riches to readers interested in American literature, culture, and history. Admittedly, as always, there are problems in the court of literary evaluation. Those who study the literature of the American West tend to believe there is a widespread prejudice in favor of minor novels and mediocre poems written amidst the cultural prestige of England or New England and a prejudice against excellent novels and poems written about the harsh plains of Nebraska or the unprestigious deserts of Nevada. Still, the West has produced no William Faulkner, no giant with enough origi­ nal power to make prejudicial rankings collapse; and, regrettably, some attempts to defend the worth of serious western literature have been strident attacks on the eastern establishment or somewhat sentimental praise of the local because it is local. Since the founding of the Western Literature Association in 1966, however, the attitude of teachers and critics of western literature has been characterized by a disinterest in proselytizing and a confidence in their chosen field of study. The belief, stated simply, is that the literature of the American West, although handicapped by association with Hollywood horse operas and stereotypical paperbacks sold in bus stations, includes a large body of first rate literary art. Western literature of quality, much of it unknown to the reading public, honors...