Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Annotated Bibliographies
Post your annotated bibliographies (of five sources or the equivalent) here as a comment. Format them as works cited page and include a summary of each source following its citation. Make sure these summaries state the main claim or argument of the source, a description of how the scholar designed the study, an explanation what evidence is used and how it supports the main claim, and a discusion of what is significant about this source.
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Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. Puffin, 1932. Print.
ReplyDeleteMy primary source, “Little House in the Big Woods”, is the first in a series of children’s novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In the books, Wilder is reflecting on her own life on the frontier with Ma, Pa, Mary, and Carrie. Laura writes of the lifestyle they shared and includes many stories from both her childhood and stories told of her father’s childhood. The novels are said to be true accounts of Laura’s childhood, though the stories she chose to share may have been done carefully to portray certain aspects of frontier life. The series focuses heavily on the ability of the Ingalls family to be self-sustainable, telling of how products were made in the home. The series is written from the perspective of young Laura so that we may see how frontier life was lived through the eyes of a child. In this particular book, The Ingalls family is living in the woods of Wisconsin. Laura is six years old and her sisters are a few years older and a few years younger. She enjoys playing with homemade dolls and helping her ma around the house. Pa hunts for their food and tells the girls many stories. They have many encounters with local wildlife including black bears and panthers. Pa goes out in the woods everyday while Ma stays home with the girls and does household chores. On Sundays the family cannot do any work and must read together from the Bible. Laura describes the misery she feels on Sundays because of how bored she becomes. Both Laura and Mary are very obedient children and receive little discipline from their parents. These books have played a large part in American culture, as these books have entertained many children.
Fellman, Anita Claire. “The Little House Books in American Culture”. Laura Ingalls Wilder and the American Frontier. Ed. Dwight M. Miller. Maryland: University Press of America, 2002. 45. Print.
This source reflects on all the ways Laura Ingalls Wilder and her popular books have impacted American culture. These books can now be seen everywhere and have become the poster child for life on the frontier. The author researched the time period in which these books were published in search for a clue as to why they became so wildly popular. The author then claims that the series strongly represents the idea of political individualism and this may be why they were so accepted at this time. Wilder may have chosen certain stories or aspects of frontier life in an attempt to portray her family as being self-sufficient and without needing outside intervention. This is important to my research because I need to know why these books were so wildly read and what message they are sending to American culture. This source will play a major role in shaping my argument about the intentions behind Wilder’s novels.
Wolf, Virginia L. Little House on the Prairie: A Reader’s Companion. New York: Twayne, 1996. Print.
This source tells much of the context behind the “Little House on the Prairie” series. The author of this source provides information on the entire Ingalls family, as well as Wilder’s daughter, Rose. Rose Wilder Lane was an author and inspired her mother to write out the story of her childhood. During this process Rose and her mother did much research into the history of the Ingalls family as well as the history of the frontier. Virginia Wolf uses this as evidence against Wilder’s own memory. She claims that Wilder could not have remembered such stories from her childhood and relied heavily on stories told to her by her mother, father, and Mary. Wilder’s work sometimes comes in to question because of the long time gap between her childhood and the publication of the stories. This source is important to my research because I seek to find out how heavily we can rely on the images of the frontier given by this series. I will use this source as a contradiction to my own argument in an attempt to show all possible perceptions of these popular novels.
Miller, John E. Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2008. Print.
ReplyDeleteThis source is more critical of Laura Ingalls Wilder and discusses her participation in creating myth of the frontier. He takes into account her political views and analyzes how these appear in her work. The time, place, and culture in which Wilder chose to write these books has a large impact on what ended up making it into her story, even though she intended to write a personal account of her own childhood. He looks into Wilder’s past by reading the column she wrote previous to the “Little House on the Prairie” series. He uses this to assess her original writing style and skill. He also has a strong focus on Wilder’s daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and the part she played in the creation of the series. This source will aid me in sorting fact from fiction in terms of Wilder’s accuracy.
Romines, Ann. “The Frontier of the Little House”. Laura Ingalls Wilder and the American Frontier. Ed. Dwight M. Miller. Maryland: UP of America, 2002. 29. Print.
In her essay, Romines goes over the content of Wilder’s novels and reviews the role of her father. Charles Ingalls, or Pa, plays a major role in Wilder’s first book and Romines discusses why this is important. Romines discusses how Wilder challenged “patriarchal principles” through her discussions of her father, and later her future husband. She speaks of "the collision of cultures that is a classic component of frontier experience" and later touches on race and culture of the West. Much of the discussion in this source is on Wilder’s later novels, which is of less help to me because I plan on arguing just in regards to the first novel, “Little House in the Big Woods”. Nevertheless I can use the source as an additional reaction to Wilder’s work and take in yet another perception of the meanings and intentions behind the book.
Broder, Patricia Janis. Great Paintings of the Old American West. New York: Abbeville Press, 1979. Print.
ReplyDeleteIn this book I found an interesting, short biography of the painter of this work, Charles Deas. This was quite a find, seeing as it was the only piece I found that was pertaining directly to the artist himself, despite having painting many scenes from the American West and being apparently quite popular during the mid 19th century, when he was painting. Although the focus is on a different painting besides Long Jakes, it offers a lot of insight into how the artist worked, his relationship with the west, and most importantly what other kinds of works he did and some thoughts on how he traveled around and what his art was supposed to represent. This information ought to be very useful when I explore Deas’ intent when creating the painting that I have chosen to analyze; it’ll give me some specific information about some of other paintings that he’s actually done, instead of just giving a general overview of Western Art as its own genre.
Hassrick, Peter H. “The American West: out of myth, into reality” American Art Review, v. 12 no6 (November/December 2000) p. 198-205, 207. Print.
The main point of this article by Hassrick is noting the negative shift in attitude towards western art around the late 20th century, and discussing whether this is justified, why this is so, and talking about what western art really stands for. The article really did a good job putting the paintings it discussed into context, and broke up the general western art movement from the 1800’s-1900’s into four general genres by subject matter, time and public attitude. It really helped me put my source into context, so, very useful. A lot of it was supported by reviewing past paintings and separating them into groups; a lot of detail went into to analyzing a few specific paintings as evidence to whichever claim he was talking about at that given point. It also talked about a few elements that were unique to western art, how to identify those, and it also tied some of the works in with the historical painting movement that was going on in Europe at the same time. This article is very significant to my research because it gives me a lot of insight into historical context, as well as showing how best to rhetorically analyze a work by looking at the details and trying to infer their meanings.
Hassrick, Peter H. “Creating the West in Art.” Magazine Antiques (July 2009). Web.
Another Hassrick article (this guy really knows his stuff about Western art), this one is a little bit broader than the article I cited above. Instead of focusing on details in paintings, mostly, this one tends to focus a little bit more on general themes, such as expansion, the idea of ‘Eden’ or the west as paradise. There was another section focusing on how masculinity was often invoked when thinking of the west, citing artists’ portrayals of mountain men as the ideal form of an American, that is, free, and uninhibited by social norms or restraints, a total liberated spirit. This eventually would be a label also slapped onto the cowboy when the west was a little more settled. Gender issues were also important here, along with examples of how Native Americans were represented in art. Again, like with his other article, he mostly cites paintings as his examples, and includes a great many illustrations on the sides and in the margins so he can better illustrate exactly what he’s talking about. Fortunately for me, one of the paintings happens the be the very one that I will be analyzing, so that’s extremely helpful.
Sandweiss, Martha A., and Hassrick, Peter H. Redrawing Boundaries: Perspectives on Western American Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. Print.
ReplyDeleteThis book actually contains a collection of articles bound into one volume and all published at the same time along with the Denver Art Museum. One of them explores “Where is the ART in Western Art?”, and is written by Peter Hassrick. Unlike some of his other works, this one does not seem to rely too heavily on citing paintings and going into detailed analysis of large scale works to back up his claims, but this instead seems to be largely a collection of musings on the aesthetic value of western art as a genre, and lamenting how it seems to be woefully underrated when it comes to its place in the art world. This helped me see western art not on its own, but putting it into context alongside other movements of art, and let me see how this genre stacked up against them. The second part to this source, “Photography and the Western Scene” is by Martha A Sandweiss. It deals mostly with the history of photography in the west, something that didn’t come around until later. Although it didn’t have much to say about paintings directly, I found it very useful in thinking about why paintings were so important during this time, and how they could be used propagandistically in order to create iconography and to implant ideas into the audience’s head when no other means were available to them.
Utley, Robert M. A Life Wild and Perilous: Mountain Men and Their Paths to the Pacific. New York: Henry Holt Publishers, 1997. Print.
This was the first source that I found that I thought could be of some use to me; first and foremost because even though my main argument is going to be discussing the painting and its use of rhetoric and other elements, I did want to go into who the mountain man was, what he meant to the American public, and why he became such an icon in the first place. This book claims to not be a collection of mini-biographies about influential mountain men, but it sure does seem to read like one. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing; I have only read a few of them so far, and already I have gleaned a lot of information about why these men were out there, what their goals were, and what their lifestyle was like. I think all of these are important things for me to know in order to put this painting into a clearer context, since all of these figures were alive and working in the imagination of the American people at the same time when my primary source was created. Unfortunately, Long Jakes himself (the man in the painting) doesn’t seem to be specifically focused on in the book, but he doesn’t seem to be a well-known mountain man at all; I suspect, as it seems other historians do, that this painting was more iconographic to the ideas of these men in a general sense, instead of simply representing one of them.
“An Unhappy Queen.” Rocky Mountain News. 28 July 1894: 35th Ed. Print.
ReplyDeleteMy primary source is called, “An Unhappy Queen.” It is a newspaper article that dates back to July of 1894. This article changed the thought of prostitution for the people of Colorado because of one person name Ella Wellington. She was the owner of the House of Mirrors, which was one of the Brothels of Colorado. She took it over from two madams who were quite famous for these Brothels, Mattie Silks and Jennie Rogers. Ella was known for being a businessperson of Market Street which was one of the main prostitution areas of Colorado. The article talks about how she died from suicide but she was such a happy person, she lived in luxury and many were not quite sure why she did it. This article not only talks about how she died but it described her life. This was different for the Rocky Mountain News because many madams had killed themselves with no one to notice, but Ella was different she was the first to have a story about her death.
Wommack, Linda. Our Ladies of the Tenderloin: Colorado’s Legends in Lace. Caldwell: Caxton
Press. 2005. Print.
The second source reveals more of Ella Wellington’s life. How she took over “The House of Mirror” from Jennie Rogers years after it opened. Ella was quite the businessperson she ran the brothel house for 3 years before committing suicide. The book states that Ella retired to her bedroom on the upper floor during the night of the gala and put a pistol to her head and died. The book goes in more detail of how Ella was having relations with the deputy and how she had become so rich and famous while in this business. But the book also reveals that she wasn’t always the person she was but Ella Brouse, a divorced woman from Salt Lake City with two adopted children and moved to Denver for a better life. The book also explains that even though many though Ella had killed herself, the author explained that her ex-husband was there the night of the gala and they spent all morning reminiscing about their lives. But later that night she was in the bed with her lover the deputy where she killed herself with a .32 caliber revolver and the deputy then woke up after her heard the gun shot. After many of the madams found Ella, Mattie silks provided her with the finest funerals at Riverside Cemetery.
Rosen, Ruth. The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1990-1918. Baltimore: The John’s
Hopkins U P. 1982. Print.
The next source describes how prostitution first began and how ladies of the American West wanted to join the business. It explains that most thought that it would help them economically, socially, and their psychological needs. This book also compares that percentage of how many women who were native to the states to immigrates would enter the business of prostitution that native- born women was more likely to join this kind of business. Also it gave the percentage of women who felt that man forced themselves on them either in their home or one of these brothel houses. Also the book also states that some were white slavers of this business. This book helps describe both the facts and perspectives of this business to the point of the ladies dealing with this risky business.
MacKell, Jan. Red Light Women of the Rocky Mountains. Albuquerque: U of New
Mexico. 2009. Print.
This book explains how prostitution was known as the “Red Light District” because that is where all of the scandals had taken place, from women taking their husbands to suicide. Also, this book explains the reason to this business and the addiction it caused and how these ladies decided to choose this profession. Also, it gave another view to the health issues and the life style that these ladies lived, and how it affected the hygiene and the view from the society that was placed on these women. Finally it tells how marriages where a factor to these ladies caught in the business.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteClarke, Thurston. The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America. Henry Holt and Company. New York, New York, 2008.
This was a book on Robert F. Kennedy's 82 day long presidential campaign after his brother's assassination in 1963. This book talks about what motivated Robert, what hurt him, and what new politics he invented in order to win the hearts and of course votes of Americans across the nation.
Duclos, Susan. Rush Limbaugh Accused of Inciting Riots With ‘Re-Create 68’ Event. Digital Journal. 1998-2010. < http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/253823>
This article was about Rush Limbaugh and how he would like to incite the riots of 1968 in Chicago that were historically one of the worst events to happen in the United Staes. His comments sparked lots of controversy and his own supporter called him by phone and publicly told Limbaugh he had crossed the line.
Fernandez, Ronald. America Beyond Black and White. The University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2007.
This was about the ongoing racial issues in the United States besides just the more media focused Black and White debate/issue. This book focuses on the smaller groups such as Asian Americans and Hispanics or Latinos.
Inouye, Daniel K. From Expatriation to Emancipation. Democratic National Convention: Chicago, Illinois. 29 August 1968.
This speech was given after the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. It was a time of riots and grieving and Inouye provided calm hope for the future of the nation in this speech.
Winnig, Heike. April 6, 1968: Hell on Earth in the Land of a true Visionary. Digital Journal. 1998-2010. < http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/290151>
Winning speaks about the hells of the riots in Chicago and Washington D.C. after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and how bad it really was in those cities by going into great detail.
Bromley, Isaac H. The Chinese massacre at Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, September 2, 1885. Boston : Franklin Press, Rand, Avery & Co., 1886.
ReplyDeleteThis source is my primary document that gives a brief account of the Rock Springs Massacre. I took this source and analyzed the meaning of why Bromley took the time write about this incident. His text gives a very vague preface to why the massacre happened and in the story continues with a short story. I understood his basic statement to be that the Rock Springs Massacre was insignificant on the local scale and through other sources confirmed this insignificance, even on a national level.
Niderost, Eric, and Luc Nettleton. "WHEN COAL MINERS BURNED The Rock Springs Massacre." Wild West 14.5 (2002): 46. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 Apr. 2010.
This text is a very descriptive informational account of the Rock Springs Massacre. This text was found through our Universities library and gave tons of background information from social to historical context. I used this source a lot to reference why the event occurred. It described in detail economic conditions of the railways and related it to government involvement, which in this case was almost none.
New York Times. “The Massacre of the Chinese”. Ghost Cowboy, True Tales of Adventure in the American West. 19 February 2007. Web. 18 April 2010.
This was a brief newspaper article giving a small description of the massacre. It didn’t give any kind of opinion and was very similar to Bromley’s text. One of the only differences within this text regarding the massacre was that it gave a bit of detail about the murders of the Chinese.
““To This We Dissented”: The Rock Springs Riot”. History Matters. 1998. Web. 18 April 2010.
This text was a fantastic source because it was made by a group that gathered a variety of historical documents about the situation and compiled them to create an accurate description. It gave lists of the dead and specific names of white miners involved. This text helped me analyze Bromley’s statement because it gave an article about the outcome of the massacre and why it was significant.
Rea, Tom. “The Rock Springs Massacre” Tom Rea. Web. 18 April 2010
This text was pretty insignificant in my research. It gave very much the same details although helped when I was incorporating western ideals into my paper. There was a small section that mentioned why racial riots were popular during this time period especially against the Chinese.
““Rock Springs is Killed”: White Reaction to the Rock Springs Riot”. History Matters. 1998. Web. 18 April 2010
The White Reaction to the Rock Springs Riot was a great source because it helped me configure the argument that the event was truly insignificant to people during the time period and even in recent history. It was interesting to have already made the conclusion that the massacre was truly insignificant and then to find this source helping prove what I got from Bromley’s text.
"HEART OF THE ROCK: The Indian Invasion of Alcatraz (Book)." Publishers Weekly 249.9
ReplyDelete(2002): 71. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Apr. 2010.
This article gives a clear understanding that the United States government was trying to take the Native Americans and move them off their reservations to take their land. They did this by offering jobs and incentives if they joined “society”. Once this started to Indian activism come to a front and they took over Alcatraz Island to make a point. I think that the writer of this article intended people to remember what had occurred with Native American activist in 1969. I think that the use of this short article in this journal makes a point because even though there is not much written it is powerful and straight to the point. I think that this document can bring up an argument of the past and see how the world has and has not change since then. I think I will use this in my paper to show how the government was moving people off the reservations.
Crum, Steven J. "Indian Activism, the Great Society, Indian Self-Determination, and the Drive
for an Indian College or University, 1964-71." American Indian Culture & Research
Journal 31.1 (2007): 1-20. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Apr. 2010.
The main point of this text is that Native Americans began to stand up for what they believed in and tried to grow as a whole in strength and unity. There are three topics in this article: the first being to rise as a group, they wanted to have their own people and their owning schooling systems. The second was a socioeconomic reform. Lastly the third was a “notion of self-determination”. This document is one that looks onto the historical past about the social world of Native Americans during the 1960’s. I think the author of this article wanted to reflect upon the past and was hoping to accomplish a feel of understanding of what the Native Americans were doing at this point in timeI think I will use this document to talk about the schooling of the Native Americans and about the self-determination that was coming about in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
"Chronology of San Francisco Rock 1965-1969." Museum of the City of San Francisco. Web. 27
Apr. 2010. .
This article was a timeline. It is helpful for my project because my paper was about Alcatraz and Indian Activism. Alcatraz being off the coast of San Francisco made many points on the timeline. I think this will be good because it helps me get my timing of events correct.
Johnson, Troy. "The Alcatraz Indian Occupation." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your
America. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .
This article was the history of Alcatraz. It was important in helping me explain why and when and how Alcatraz was occupied. Also it is useful because it explains the end and the Indians being pushed off Alcatraz. This will be helpful to back up my primary document.
Deloria Jr., Vine. "American Indian Activism: Alcatraz to the Longest Walk." Journal
of the West 39.1 (2000): 108. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Apr. 2010.
This document helps me explain why the Indians wanted to take occupation of Alcatraz. It said that the Indians needed somewhere to go and talked about what led up to the occupation of Alcatraz. This could be helpful to make my point that the Indians were being suppressed.
rks Cited
ReplyDeleteBuscombe, Edward. The Searchers. London: British Film Institution, 2000. Print.
The Searchers in a book discussing the great influence and impact the film The Searchers which was released in 1956. The book talks about how the film is rated in the top 50 films made of all time. Its impact has been immense by influencing great directors throughout history including Martin Scorsese. The combination of John Ford and John Wayne helped make the film as influential as it is on film. The book begins by going through the opening scene of the film and stating that Ethan was the first word stated by a character in the film. However, the first few words in the film were actually in the form of a song that describes the main character in The Searchers known as Ethan Edwards.
The book continues by analyzing different scenes in the film and describing their significance to the film industry and to John Ford himself. The book gives a lot of credibility to John Ford and John Wayne by talking about their background and how long they have worked together and were in the business.
John Ford states that the significance of the film has to deal with race and Indians in early western films. He states that, “The audience likes to see Indians get killed. They don’t consider them as human beings – with a great culture of their own – quite different from ours.” Through the character of Ethan, John Ford exemplifies him as a racist, but also allows the audience to feel sorry for him. This gives the film complexity and depth.
Darby, William. John Ford’s Westerns: A Thematic Analysis, with a Filmography. Jefferson, Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc. Publishers, 1996. Print.
The book talks about and gives a detailed analysis to the filmography of John Ford as a whole. There are specific pages that discuss different aspects of the film The Searchers. One of the major topics that the book talks about is the concept of time in The Searchers. The book talks about how the film starts out stating that it takes place in Texas in 1868. This gives the audience a starting point to base the passage of time throughout the film on. Times moves very fast at some points in the film and moves very slow during other parts. However, the most significant thing about time in the film is that the search for Debbie took five years. The book continues by talking about how the character of Ethan Edwards is known as a wanderer because of his racism and vengeance. The film ends with the doors of his only family’s house closing on him as he walks out into the wilderness to wander. “The central characters’ journey through time and terrain ends with Ethan remaining as much of an intruder within society as he was when he first arrived at his brother’s ranch.” (219)
Cantor, Paul A. “The Western and Western Drama: John Ford’s The Searchers and the Oresteia.” Print the Legend: Politics, Culture, and Civic Virtue in the Films of John Ford. Sidney A. Pearson Jr. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2009. Pgs. 101- 131. Print.
ReplyDeleteThe Western and Western Drama: John Ford’s The Searchers and the Oresteia is an essay that compares John Ford’s great film, The Searchers to the Oresteia, which is a Greek trilogy written by Aeschylus. The essay starts out discussing the how well-known The Searchers is by saying that it is “frequently described as epic and tragic.” The essay states that revenge was a very evident theme in the tragedies of Oresteia and is as stated, “… a perennially popular subject on both epic and tragedy.” The essay continues by discussing the three-part play of the Oresteia and how aspects of the story coincide with the tragic story of The Searchers. The Oresteia like The Searchers is about getting revenge for family members. In the plays Orestes, the son of Agamemnon wants to get revenge for the murder of his father by his mother Clytemnestra.
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are both talked about in the essay as well and are defined as “perhaps the two greatest movies of all time…” They are compared to both The Searchers and the Oresteia as a film about revenge tragedy that can operate on an intellectual as well as an emotional level.”
These two pieces of work are also similar in the way Aeschylus and Ford decide to end their stories. Both The Searchers and the Oresteia end “happily.” However, there are still aspects of both of the films that do not leave the audience in a happy mood.
Henderson, Brian. “The Searchers: An American Dilemma.” The Searchers: John Ford’s Classic Western. Kckstein, Arthur M. and Lehman, Peter. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2004. Pgs. 47-73. Print.
The essay written by Brian Henderson talks about vast impact The Searchers has had on the history of film. It talks about how the film has influenced many films including Hardcore, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dillinger, Mean Streets, Big Wednesday, The Deer Hunter, The Wind and the Lion, Ulzana’s Raid, and Star Wars among others. It discusses how the theme of searching for someone and vengeance have helped sculpt each of these plots. Specifically in the films, Taxi Driver, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, and Hardcore have been classified as very similar. “In each, an obsessed man searches for someone—a woman, a child, a best friend—who has fallen into the clutches of an alien people.” (47) The article also talks about how the film is centered around Ethan’s character and the journey that he takes. His racism and quest for vengeance is exemplified in some of the earlier scenes in the film. His rejection of his nephew Martin Pawley because he is one-eighth Cherokee Indian is one example that shows racism. The article develops this idea even more by talking about how Ethan gave Martin Pawley a hard time throughout the film.
Dagle, Joan. “Linear Patterns and Ethnic Encounters in the Ford Western.” John Ford Made Westerns. Studlar, Gaylyn and Bernstein, Matthew. Bloomington: Indian University Press, 2001. Pages 102-131. Print.
ReplyDeleteThe entire book discusses numerous aspects of and analysis of the films of John Ford. However, the article, “Linear Patterns and Ethnic Encounters in the Ford Western” talks about his films and the entirety of the American West genre and how there are common themes that can be found in all of these films. “John Ford’s Westerns, like all films in the genre, are informed by a paradigmatic American narrative: the story of the settlers’ movement from East to West.” The article continues talking about the role of Indians in western films and specifically focuses on the interaction between Ethan and Chief Scar in The Searchers. Ethan and Chief Scar are portrayed as mirror images of each other with hatred and anger leading them to vengeance. One scene is analyzed very closely and discusses the first confrontation that Ethan and Chief Scar have and their hatred for the other’s race. “This wordless ‘confrontation’ is followed by a longer shot as Figueroa steps between Ethan and Scar to begin his translation-mediation. However, Ethan interrupts, walks up close to Scar and addresses him, insultingly, in English.” (123) this is analyzed in detail stating that both Ethan and Scar had may have had sexual relations with the other man’s race resulting in them knowing each other’s language very well.
The Searchers. Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent Dir. John Ford. Prod. Merian C. Cooper, Patrick Ford, and C.V. Whitney. Perf. John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood, and Henry Brandon. Warner Bros, 1956. Film.
Morriss, Andrew P. "Miners, Vigilantes, and Cattlemen: Property Rights on the Western
ReplyDeleteFrontier." Foundation for Economic Education, 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
This article by Andrew Morriss, “Miners, Vigilantes, and Cattlemen: Property Rights on the Western Frontier,” looks at three separate groups of people who were instrumental in the settlement and development of the Western frontier. Though the discussion of miners and cattlemen fall outside of the direction of my research that is focused on vigilantes in the West, this article does provide insight into the development of vigilantism, especially in Montana. As such, the section on “Vigilantes” ties directly to the purpose of my paper.
The main claim of the author is that ways exist to defend property rights in absence of the state. Two main vigilante efforts in Montana arose as a response to attacks by criminal elements in the area. When Montana’s first gold rush began, many miners flocked to the area. Unfortunately, Henry Plummer organized a criminal gang that robbed and killed over a hundred men, separating the many miners from their money. Without the ability to organize and thus resist the well-organized criminals, the miners were easy prey. However, a chance discovery that there were Masons in the area provided the basis for the organization of a vigilance committee to counter the Plummer gang. While initially effective, the vigilantes had a number of problems that eventually undermined their effectiveness. Yet three factors can be identified as to the reason why Montana vigilantes did succeed., including an incentive to profit, the ability to draw upon preexisting groups, and a focus on the defense of life, liberty and property.
The author, Andrew Morriss, is a professor of Law and Business at the University of Illinois. He approaches the subject of vigilantes (as well as the impact of miners and cattlemen) from the view of property rights. With a background in law as well as in business, he is able to construct his article, drawing from historical events and citations from others. The major evidence for his contention about the defense of property rights is the analysis of the two vigilante efforts in the Montana Territory.
As noted above, his analysis concerning the reasons behind the rise of vigilantes is an important aspect for my research. Without understanding the circumstances that occasioned the rise of vigilantism, the actions of the vigilantes, and the “results” from their presence, one is not able to fully provide a cogent analysis. Morriss’ article helps provide a framework from which an analysis can be constructed
Heimbuck, Curt. “MonDak Vigilantes.” MonDak Heritage Center. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
This source focuses specifically on the Montana vigilantes, perhaps the most known of them all. It talks about the different groups of vigilantes that were around, political vigilantes and those that were tied to the 3-7-77 numbers. This was interesting because no one really knows for sure what those numbers mean. As they were carved into the victims, ideas have been theorized to show power or to just scare people away.
Pfeifer, Michael J. “Race and Lynching in the American West in the Early Twentieth Century.” The Evergreen State College. 2001. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
ReplyDeleteThis essay, “Race and Lynching in the American West in the Early Twentieth Century” by Michael Pfeifer, starts off by describing a scene that graphically depicts the hatred and violence toward blacks in Wyoming. A black man at a restaurant was ejected from the restaurant for failing to show proper deference to a white woman, sent to jail, and then dragged out to be hanged by a group of white men, all because he called a white waitress “a liar” for not having his food. As a result of this incident, all the blacks in the area were ordered to leave town, most of which were not even allowed the opportunity to gather their belongings.
A similar historical event reinforces the reality of racial inequality in the West. A Chinese man had been angered by a message delivered to him from a white woman. Because of this he slashed words into her face and slashed 2 others in the room. When white male lumberjacks heard of this, they went out to get him. They knocked him unconscious and took him to be hanged. Even though a reward was offered for the capture of those who hanged him, everyone claimed to “know absolutely nothing.”
These stories are just two examples of what were racially motivated lynchings in the West. However, lynchings were not always based on race. In fact, the roots of such murderous activity are found in the attitudes and culture of the West. A number of factors including the inadequacy of law enforcement and courts and the rise of the vigilantes contributed to this violence. However, often overlooked is the role that race played in these situations.
In combination with the other secondary sources, this article alerts the researcher and reader to be aware of other possible motivations for what are at times characterized simply as “vigilantism.” Since it is clear that racism is present in some lynchings but not others, it is important as one analyzes vigilantism and crime to understand the various possible rationales. Without careful analysis of the reasons why, one may come to false conclusions about the effects and historic significance of vigilantism.
Dimsdale, Thomas J. Virginia City: D.W. Tilton &, 1866. Print.
Thomas Dimsdale in his book Vigilantes of Montana that strongly defends the vigilantes and “the equity of their proceedings. He has many chapters included in his book, but I only focused on a couple key ones that introduced the topic, gave information on specific groups, and some of the outcomes of it. This topic was very controversial, as it involved the murders based on “justification” of the right thing to do. He gives extensive background information as to how and why vigilantism came into being, by providing examples of towns that were being run down or the lack of a stable government and law enforcement. Dimsdale makes his opinions known in his book. Although some may not agree, he enhances his ethos and character in doing this by referring to specific experiences. He had many friends that dealt with this experience first hand. Therefore, he designed his writing to include these testimonies and dialogues to give the reader a real idea of what was happening.