Mythic Frontiers: Remembering, Forgetting, and Profiting with Cultural Heritage Tourism by Daniel R. Maher (review)

Heritage tourism is becoming an increasingly popular topic in the field of public history, and social anthropologist Daniel Maher contributes a valuable case study of western tourism to this emerging literature. The author develops a case study of Fort Smith, Arkansas, as representative of the popular, Wild West "frontier complex," which is deeply rooted in our national imagination. Maher's ethnographic approach examines many elements of the "tourismification" of Fort Smith, observing that the "simplified, overarching" narrative of the western frontier reflects other cultural heritage practices that select and create an exaggerated and inaccurate cultural memory (4–5). Maher argues that the "frontier complex" which has been in place at Fort Smith since 1955 celebrates "whiteness" and ultimately illustrates "contemporary and historical expressions of oppression by class, gender, and race" (37).

As a professor at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Maher has been observing heritage tourism in the community since his arrival in 1997, but he did not begin this study until 2009 when he became intrigued by racist ideologies in a public program depicting Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves. Mythic Frontiers reflects five years of fieldwork within the community, which included interviewing local individuals involved in heritage tourism, staff at local museums and historic sites, and eight reenactment groups, as well as research into topics ranging from material culture to western lore and history. Through his careful research, the author documents how the interpretation of history here is not only untrue but also "not even historically honest or sensible to their consumers" (39).

The author begins by outlining the history and evolution of the frontier narrative at Fort Smith. The first three periods reflect periods of development in the western states more generally: the process of Indian removal, restraint, and reservation, during which time the US Army and white immigrants moved into the West and transformed the region with industry, railroads, and homesteads. But Maher focuses more on the second two periods: how the stories of the West became popular entertainment between 1920 and 1980 and how heritage tourism efforts increased after 1980 with deindustrialization and the rise of new national and global economies. His chapters explore various components of the "frontier complex" at Fort Smith, including the development of the Fort Smith National Historic Site which opened in 1957 and soon became part of the National Park Service, and the mythology that developed around "hanging" Judge Isaac Parker whose Fort Smith courtroom and gallows reportedly brought law and order to Indian country. Successive chapters document the narratives that developed around race and gender, focusing on African American marshal Bass Reeves and madams and prostitutes Bell Starr and Miss Laura, now interpreted as representing a time in which "men knew how to be men and women knew how to be women" (174). One chapter explores the performances of the "frontier complex" narrative, from utilizing Miss Laura as a marketing tool, to the reconstruction and programming around the gallows, to gun fights and shootouts in the town.

The author concludes that "cultural heritage tourism is an industry; it is about money" (211). The final chapter reinforces Maher's argument as he looks at the unsuccessful development of the US Marshalls Museum in Fort Smith and in two previous locations. Fort Smith actively courted the Marshalls Museum in recent years to further its economic development and tourism efforts. After many years of seeking funding, the museum had not yet been able to secure the funds for construction. The author claims "the era of the frontier complex tourism closed," writing that the traditional western narrative no longer appeals to the younger generations (24).

One of the greatest strengths of the book is the very descriptive accounts of historical programs and events in Fort Smith, drawn from the author's first-hand observations and oral history accounts. Maher illustrates how deeply the community has embraced this "frontier complex" and how local residents believe heritage tourism is its main...