Project MUSE®: Great Plains Research - Latest Articles
https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628
Project MUSE®: Latest articles in Great Plains Research.daily12026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00text/htmlen-USVol. 24 (2014) through current issueLatest Articles: Great Plains ResearchTWOProject MUSE®Great Plains Research2334-24631052-5165Latest articles in Great Plains Research. Feed provided by Project MUSE®Locating and Assessing Oregon Trail Ruts in Nebraska with Aerial Stereophotographs, Satellite Imagery, and LiDAR
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959759
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The Oregon Trail extends 3,490 km from Independence, Missouri, to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was the primary 19th-century Euro-American emigration route into the Pacific Northwest and a trunk from which other roads, such as the Mormon and California Trails, diverged. Approximately 350,000 emigrants traveled on the trail, mostly between 1841 and 1866, and travel effectively ended within two decades after the juncture of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads in 1869 (Mattes 1987). The general route of the trail in Nebraska has long been documented. Krouch (1933) laboriously plotted the route on 15-minute topographic maps using information from General Land Office (GLO) surveys (Table 1) and other
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallLocating and Assessing Oregon Trail Ruts in Nebraska with Aerial Stereophotographs, Satellite Imagery, and LiDAR2025-05-09text/htmlen-USLocating and Assessing Oregon Trail Ruts in Nebraska with Aerial Stereophotographs, Satellite Imagery, and LiDAR2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®818152026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Assessing a Website's Ability to Provide Human–Wildlife Conflict Information: A Case Example from Nebraska
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959760
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The expansion of urban development has prompted a surge of encounters between humans and wildlife. By 2030, the global urban population is expected to increase to five billion people (Seto et al. 2012). In the Great Plains, most of the population has transitioned to living in urban areas rather than rural communities (Rathge 2001; Becker 2011). Despite low population density and seemingly boundless amounts of space in the region, urban and suburban sprawl is a common development method that can fragment habitat. As our society has become more diverse and urban populations continue to grow, human–wildlife conflicts have also increased (Schell et al. 2020). The term "human–wildlife conflict" has many definitions but
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallAssessing a Website's Ability to Provide Human–Wildlife Conflict Information: A Case Example from Nebraska2025-05-09text/htmlen-USAssessing a Website's Ability to Provide Human–Wildlife Conflict Information: A Case Example from Nebraska2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®1167192026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Performative Violence at the Border: Texas's Operation Lone Star
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959761
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The only thing that we're not doing is we're not shooting people who come across the border because of course the Biden administration would charge us with murder.Responding to an increase in attempts at unauthorized crossings between ports of entry at the international border between Mexico and Texas, on March 4, 2021, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, activated Operation Lone Star (OLS) (Office of the Texas Governor Greg Abbott 2021). He deployed over 1,000 Texas National Guard (TNG) troops alongside 1,000 uniformed officers of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) at the border (Texas Military Department, "Operation Lone Star," n.d.; Abbott 2021). The governor appoints the adjutant general of
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallPerformative Violence at the Border: Texas's Operation Lone Star2025-05-09text/htmlen-USPerformative Violence at the Border: Texas's Operation Lone Star2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®1543172026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Cultivating Prosperity: Agricultural Pressures on GOP Positions Supporting Latino Interests
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959762
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Immigration is an increasingly contentious issue revolving around debates over Dreamer citizenship, detention centers, migrant caravans, asylum-seekers, and the building of a border wall with Mexico. Yet, regardless of the Republican Party (GOP) rhetoric to resolve immigration through backlash issue positions, there are indications of intraparty GOP differences for resolving this issue in Congress (Citrin et al. 1997; Neiman et al. 2006; Casellas and Leal 2013; Siegel and Parkinson 2018; Rocca et al. 2023). In June 2018, 47% (112) of GOP House members voted against decreasing immigrant employment, increasing border security, finding a citizenship pathway for Dreamers, and funding a border wall in H.R. 6136, the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallCultivating Prosperity: Agricultural Pressures on GOP Positions Supporting Latino Interests2025-05-09text/htmlen-USCultivating Prosperity: Agricultural Pressures on GOP Positions Supporting Latino Interests2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®1877342026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09People in a Sea of Grass: Archaeology's Changing Perspective on Indigenous Plains Communities ed. by Matthew E. Hill and Laura Ritterbush (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959763
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People in a Sea of Grass provides a detailed and thorough accounting of recent research in the central Great Plains. Through 12 chapters, including introduction, background, and concluding chapters, the editors and other authors present readers with well-grounded analyses of long-standing debates and topics stemming from the work of early scholars in the field, most notably Waldo Wedel. In addition to honoring Wedel and the contributions of other founding figures, the book became an unexpected tribute to Donna C. Roper, who organized the original session at the Annual Plains Anthropological Conference and later initiated the volume before passing away in 2015. I commend the editors for finalizing this project as a
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallPeople in a Sea of Grass: Archaeology's Changing Perspective on Indigenous Plains Communities ed. by Matthew E. Hill and Laura Ritterbush (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USPeople in a Sea of Grass: Archaeology's Changing Perspective on Indigenous Plains Communities ed. by Matthew E. Hill and Laura Ritterbush (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®59892026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Back from the Collapse: American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife by Curtis H. Freese (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959764
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An applied ecologist, a manager of and advocate for wildlife, Freese proposes "a protected area where the visitor will be able to experience an endless sea of grass teeming with wildlife on a scale not seen in more than 200 years" (xv). This is his aspiration for American Prairie, which already has substantial landholdings that he wishes to combine with the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and other public lands into a projected 3.2-million-acre reserve. His book, Back from the Collapse, comprises two (overlapping) parts: "History" (deep history, treating evolution of the regional environment and its animal species) and "Collapses and Recoveries" (what happened to notable species over the past couple of
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallBack from the Collapse: American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife by Curtis H. Freese (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USBack from the Collapse: American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife by Curtis H. Freese (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®53462026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09The Incorrigibles: Eugenics and Sterilization in the Kansas Industrial School for Girls by Ry Marcattilio-McCracken (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959765
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Better Babies and Fit Families were slogans used in the early 20th century to imply that healthy babies and well-behaved families were key factors in building vibrant communities. Contests and health screenings at state and county fairs in Kansas emphasized how a fit family contributed to the development of strong babies who would one day support the state's agricultural and economic aspirations. Masquerading behind the slogans and programs was the insidious belief the population needed to be culled to ensure that Kansans who were mentally, sexually, or criminally deviant or defective would not deter the state's aspirations and reputation. Starting with a 1913 law and confirmed by State v. Shaffer (1928), eugenic
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallThe Incorrigibles: Eugenics and Sterilization in the Kansas Industrial School for Girls by Ry Marcattilio-McCracken (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USThe Incorrigibles: Eugenics and Sterilization in the Kansas Industrial School for Girls by Ry Marcattilio-McCracken (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®61102026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town by Jesús Jesse Esparza (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959766
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As someone with an interest in how cultural identity has an impact on education, I was anxious to read Raza Schools, especially having lived in borderland communities in the southern Great Plains. Although Esparza's focus is on the very edge of what some people consider the Plains, the story told is certainly relevant to all non-dominant ethnic communities throughout America in that it details how political and social structures prevent some people from gaining access to educational opportunities unless they take control themselves and create the resources necessary for their children.This case study has several important strengths. First, we get a very detailed chronological account of the challenges faced by the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallRaza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town by Jesús Jesse Esparza (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USRaza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town by Jesús Jesse Esparza (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®57312026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09The Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is—and Isn't by Steven Conn (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959767
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The divide between mythology and reality in rural America is confronted by author Steven Conn as he invites readers to think differently about the rural by focusing on four major forces that have formed modern America: militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and suburbanization. Breaking the book into four parts to assess the impacts of each of these forces on rural areas, Conn presents a rural America that has been shaped and reshaped to the same extent as its urban counterpart, leading to an intriguing argument that rural and urban America should be examined together as a whole, rather than as separate contrasting entities.Part 1 examines the disproportionate impact militarization has had on rural
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallThe Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is—and Isn't by Steven Conn (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USThe Lies of the Land: Seeing Rural America for What It Is—and Isn't by Steven Conn (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®55882026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959768
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"At what cost?" This question serves as a structural refrain in Sara Dant's stunning new edition of Losing Eden, a comprehensive survey of the American West's environmental history from prehistoric times to the present day. Losing Eden mandates a rethinking of American history. First, the whole myth of the "New World" as an Edenic space was never the reality of the Americas. Humans had already altered the natural world for their benefit, and before the tragedy of unleashed pathogens and the "horrific" mass dying of Native Peoples during and after initial contact with Europeans, large cities rose from the Mississippi River to the Andes Mountains of the Inca. These migrants from ancient Beringia shaped the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallLosing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USLosing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®68502026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Holes in Our Moccasins, Holes in Our Stories: Apachean Origins and the Promontory, Franktown, and Dismal River Archaeological Records ed. by John W. Ives and Joel C. Janetski (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959769
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In the early 1930s, archaeologist Julian Steward conducted excavations at the Promontory Caves in Utah, located on the north shore of the Great Salt Lake. Thousands of artifacts were recovered, including well-preserved moccasins, fiber mats, cordage, arrow shafts, bison bones, clothing fragments, and other perishable materials. Steward observed that the resulting assemblage was unusual for the region, with many elements more typical of northern or southwestern groups. Based on the emphasis on bison hunting, the style of mittens and moccasins, and the presence of artifacts such as cedar bark rings and certain gaming pieces, Steward suggested that the caves' occupants had been big game hunters from the north with
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallHoles in Our Moccasins, Holes in Our Stories: Apachean Origins and the Promontory, Franktown, and Dismal River Archaeological Records ed. by John W. Ives and Joel C. Janetski (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USHoles in Our Moccasins, Holes in Our Stories: Apachean Origins and the Promontory, Franktown, and Dismal River Archaeological Records ed. by John W. Ives and Joel C. Janetski (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®61562026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Power Balance: Increasing Leverage in Negotiations with Federal and State Governments—Lessons Learned from the Native American Experience by Steven J. Haberfeld (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959770
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Steven Haberfeld's book Power Balance provides a description of an Indigenous-centered methodology for approaching a wide variety of situations requiring formal negotiation, communication, and peacemaking. This methodology consists of six distinct steps accomplished in a linear order—this provides the structure of the book. The author uses a variety of case studies consisting of different combinations of the three kinds of sovereign entities, or political bodies, found in a North American context: Federal, State, and Indigenous nation. Haberfeld accomplishes his goal of providing an Indigenous-centered methodology for negotiation that can be used in differing environments between different kinds of participants
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallPower Balance: Increasing Leverage in Negotiations with Federal and State Governments—Lessons Learned from the Native American Experience by Steven J. Haberfeld (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USPower Balance: Increasing Leverage in Negotiations with Federal and State Governments—Lessons Learned from the Native American Experience by Steven J. Haberfeld (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®65222026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Battle for the Heart of Texas: Political Change in the Electorate by Mark Owens, Ken Wink, and Kenneth Bryant (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959771
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From its history to its people, few states capture attention like the state of Texas. Politically, Texas has been at the forefront of American politics for decades. Both Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) and George W. Bush, two of the most famous presidents, though from opposite ends of the political spectrum, call Texas home. In recent years, Texas has produced equally polarizing figures, Senator Ted Cruz, and Congressman Beto O'Rourke; both typify the Lone Star State's diverse political culture. Beyond polarizing figures, Texas is equally polarizing regarding a host of issues. Either through local school boards, city councils, the state legislature, or the governor's mansion, Texas is often the first to challenge
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallBattle for the Heart of Texas: Political Change in the Electorate by Mark Owens, Ken Wink, and Kenneth Bryant (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USBattle for the Heart of Texas: Political Change in the Electorate by Mark Owens, Ken Wink, and Kenneth Bryant (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®57992026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Urban Homelands: Writing the Native City from Oklahoma by Lindsey Claire Smith (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959772
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Urban Homelands transforms readers' conceptions of United States southern and southwestern cities by foregrounding the experiences of Native Americans who founded and reclaimed them. In doing so, the book joins other recent and urgent scholarship that counters the Indigenous dispossession so foundational to the material and discursive construction of cities across the Americas. Mainstream histories of North American cities often begin with the Industrial Revolution, ignoring the genocide and forced relocation of Native peoples that paved their way, reinforcing settler-imposed binaries (rural–urban, Indigenous–European, backward–cosmopolitan). Smith counters such mythology by recounting the urban and diasporic
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallUrban Homelands: Writing the Native City from Oklahoma by Lindsey Claire Smith (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USUrban Homelands: Writing the Native City from Oklahoma by Lindsey Claire Smith (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®67952026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09Remapping Sovereignty: Decolonization and Self-Determination in North American Indigenous Political Thought by David Myer Temin (review)
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/959773
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This is a highly theorized analysis of the issue of tribal sovereignty and land, reflecting, as the author notes in his acknowledgments, the influence of the graduate faculty in political science and Native America studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. As such, it is conversant in current discussions of decolonization and self-determination in both the United States and Canada.The book starts with the 2016 protest by the anticolonial "water protectors" to the proposed construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) by Dakota Access, LLC, from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico—10 miles upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The concern of those opposed to the
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Project MUSE®https://muse.jhu.edu/2026-05-19T00:00:00-05:00https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/628/image/coversmallRemapping Sovereignty: Decolonization and Self-Determination in North American Indigenous Political Thought by David Myer Temin (review)2025-05-09text/htmlen-USRemapping Sovereignty: Decolonization and Self-Determination in North American Indigenous Political Thought by David Myer Temin (review)2025-05-092025TWOProject MUSE®63952026-05-19T00:00:00-05:002025-05-09