The Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization 1800–1890 by Richard Slotkin (review)

144 Western American Literature and a passing way of life. A trip to Alaska with Jake Breitenbach in a wreck of a Buick to join an expedition on McKinley reflects the love of adventure and climbing that knows no distinction of age. Rowell, Chouinard, Tenzing Norgay and many others appear briefly as their lives and Blanchard’s come briefly together on some mountain trail. The unexpected death of Su, Blanch­ ard’s wife, in a mountain-related accident, and his subsequent grief is touched with the irony of mortality. The one constant in the many subjects that Blanchard treats is the out­ doors. From that point he goes every direction—to an exciting, midnight climb of Illumination Rock on Mount Hood in the middle of winter, to a pilgrimage to a Buddhist shrine, to avoiding leeches while guiding a trek to Mount Everest. Blanchard is equally at home in the storms on the big mountains of Alaska and Canada as on the rock faces in the Palisades. He offers sound advice on equipment, on ecology, on guiding, and on any number of other adventurous experiences. The book is both instructional and entertaining, and having missed Blanchard on the mountain, it is good to join him in “Walking Up and Down in the World.” LEON L. PETERSON Thatcher, Arizona The Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industriali­ zation 1800-1890. By Richard Slotkin. (New York: Atheneum, 1985. 636 pages, $37.50.) In 1973 Richard Slotkin’s Regeneration Through Violence: The Myth­ ology of the American Frontier, 1600-1860 was published to a crescendo of praise. It won the Albert J. Beveridge Award of the American Historical Association. Ray Billington called it definitive. The Fatal Environment is a continuation of the history of the myth of the American frontier. The author defines the dominant ideas of the Frontier Myth as those that invoke the images of the Indian wars as a series of heroic encounters, pitting race against race, contrasting savagism with civilization, and rationalizing the use of violence against “the lesserbreeds.” The centerpiece of the work is Custer’s Last Stand, which links the ideals and prejudices of the Americans into a tale that for over one hundred years has influenced America’s perception of herself. During this time, General George Armstrong Custer has either been praised as the last cavalier or damned as a glory hunter. During the 1960s, because of the Vietnam War an anti-Custer image developed, with the film Little Big Man as the ne plus ultra, a decided change from the 1940s when both Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan played Custer. Today, with the quest for heroes and increased patriot­ ism, a Custer boom is on; witness the success of Evan Connell’s Son of the Reviews 145 Morning Star. The number of tourists at the Custer Battlefield has increased 20% this year over last, and Custer fan clubs are growing around the world. Slotkin’s study does not just deal with Custer’scareer and the story of the fight but effectively juggles other themes—the interconnection in the press between the Indian menace on the frontier and racial problems in the cities, the political implications of Custer’s career, and the nexus between Custer and the image of the frontier hero a la that frontier trinity—Boone, Crockett, and Carson. The author’s range is as wide as it is deep. There are chapters on 18thcentury Indian wars, Cooper’s Leatherstocking Myth, and Grant’s Peace Policy toward the Indians. This is an exceptional book, massive in its infor­ mation, brilliant in its construction, and marvelous to read. RICHARD A. VAN ORMAN Purdue University, Calumet Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering. Edited by Hal Cannon. (Salt Lake City: Pere­ grine Smith, 1985. 201 pages, $14.95 cloth, $9.95 paper.) Every aspect of this slim volume of poetry reflects the years of tradition that lie behind cowboy poetry. Seldom does one see the attention to detail that has gone into the production of this collection: the color and design of its old-fashioned cover, the nostalgic black and white illustrations, the thin strip of leather serving as a handy bookmark. Most significant...