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61 books match the query 'American West' and 3 start with a
A French Aristocrat in the American West
The Shattered Dreams of De Lassus De LuzièresCarl J. Ekberg & Foreword by Marie-Sol de La Tour d'Auvergne
University of Missouri Press, 2010
In 1790, Pierre-Charles de Lassus de Luzières gathered his wife and children and fled Revolutionary France. His trek to America was prompted by his “purchase” of two thousand acres situated on the bank of the Ohio River from the Scioto Land Company—the institution that infamously swindled French buyers and sold them worthless titles to property. When de Luzières arrived and realized he had been defrauded, he chose, in a momentous decision, not to return home to France. Instead, he committed to a life in North America and began planning a move to the Mississippi River valley.
De Luzières dreamed of creating a vast commercial empire that would stretch across the frontier, extending the entire length of the Ohio River and also down the Mississippi from Ste. Genevieve to New Orleans. Though his grandiose goal was never realized, de Luzières energetically pursued other important initiatives. He founded the city of New Bourbon in what is now Missouri and recruited American settlers to move westward across the Mississippi River. The highlight of his career was being appointed Spanish commandant of the New Bourbon District, and his 1797 census of that community is an invaluable historical document. De Luzières was a significant political player during the final years of the Spanish regime in Louisiana, but likely his greatest contributions to American history are his extensive commentaries on the Mississippi frontier at the close of the colonial era.
A French Aristocrat in the American West: The Shattered Dreams of De Lassus de Luzières is both a narrative of this remarkable man’s life and a compilation of his extensive writings. In Part I of the book, author Carl Ekberg offers a thorough account of de Luzières, from his life in Pre-Revolutionary France to his death in 1806 in his house in New Bourbon. Part II is a compilation, in translation, of de Luzières’s most compelling correspondence. Until now very little of his writing has been published, despite the fact that his letters constitute one of the largest bodies of writing ever produced by a French émigré in North America.
Though de Luzières’s presence in early American history has been largely overlooked by scholars, the work left behind by this unlikely frontiersman merits closer inspection. A French Aristocrat in the American West brings the words and deeds of this fascinating man to the public for the first time.
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A Watershed Moment
The American West in the Age of LimitsEdited by Robert Frodeman, Evelyn Brister, and Luther Propst
University of Utah Press, 2024
The American West is often portrayed as a place of rugged, unending landscapes presenting us with boundless opportunities. But the land is more fragile and resources more finite than popular perceptions acknowledge. This collection of essays, A Watershed Moment, reveals tensions between a culture of economic growth and personal freedom and the ecological, economic, and social constraints set by community values and the land itself. As Westerners and their communities come up against these limits, the volume editors highlight issues of sustainability endemic to the region and to the nation as a whole.
The volume presents practical approaches to land use, land management, and community planning that are motivated by philosophical views on justice, quality of life, and sustainability in the American West. The contributors are policymakers, government employees, land and water managers, urban planners, biologists, tribal members, writers, and academics from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The result is a compelling vision of place-based, policy-oriented sustainability across the West.
The volume presents practical approaches to land use, land management, and community planning that are motivated by philosophical views on justice, quality of life, and sustainability in the American West. The contributors are policymakers, government employees, land and water managers, urban planners, biologists, tribal members, writers, and academics from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The result is a compelling vision of place-based, policy-oriented sustainability across the West.
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An Incomplete History of the American West
Storiesurza
University of Nevada Press, 2026
An Incomplete History of the American West is a striking collection of twelve interconnected short stories that span 150 years across the stark, haunting landscape of the Great Basin. Moving chronologically through time, each story acts like a literary historical marker—pausing along the timeline to reveal a moment, a voice, a reckoning.
Rooted in the traditions of Western literature but unafraid to challenge them, author Gabriel Urza brings a fresh and unflinching perspective to stories that span race, class, and time. Unsentimental yet deeply humane, An Incomplete History of the American West asks readers to reconsider what the West truly means—and why the stories we tell about it still matter.
Rooted in the traditions of Western literature but unafraid to challenge them, author Gabriel Urza brings a fresh and unflinching perspective to stories that span race, class, and time. Unsentimental yet deeply humane, An Incomplete History of the American West asks readers to reconsider what the West truly means—and why the stories we tell about it still matter.
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