Missing Comments

In reviewing my blog, I realized that my comments for two weeks had not been listed. I have included the following links.

Devil's Bargains
I have posted comments on Dan's Site and John's Site.

Cadillac Dessert
I have posted comments on John's Site and Carrie's Site

Post #13

Tourism and Identity
Reading

Devil's Bargains: Tourism in the Twentieth-Century American West by Hal K. Rothman

In this weeks reading, Rothman deals with the realities of tourism in the American West. Just as the very real effects of tourism are often overlooked by communities, this is a cultural issue that is often overlooked by those, such as myself, who participate as the outside consumer of "imagined communities" that tourism creates.

Rothman traces the development of tourism in American society through the stages of heritage, recreational, and entertainment based tourism. By itself, this analysis of tourism was particularly interesting. Yet, the strength of this work is its depiction of the effects of tourism on the communities that embrace it as a form of economic growth. To Rothman, the embrace of tourism represents the last desperate attempts of communities in the West to hold onto economic prosperity. Inevitably, in Rothman's analysis, this attempt leads to the death of native community as tourists come seeking their self-perceived experience of the place that was once a community defined on its own terms.

Thus, this work maneuvers itself into the interpretation of the West as a "colony". In the view of Rothman, the West is succumbing to the "most colonial of colonial economies..." (Rothman 12) In Rothman's analysis, this is a colonialism that is built around re-defining the identity of a place and those who are attempting to save that place through tourism. Unlike other forms of colonialism, which seek to control resources and in the process control the society of the native people, the resource that it brought into submission with tourism is that society itself. As communities bring in the capital for the development of tourism, they inevitably bring corporate dominance, neonative residents, and eventually the tourists that they so desired. In the process, the community is re-defined and re-interpreted (imagined) by the all of these agents.

As one who has been involved in the work of museums and as a native in an unlikely community of tourism, I found Rothman's analysis to be particularly interesting and challenging. I have lived as a native in the small town of Fairmount, Indiana. A small town that once every year is "colonized" by hundreds of bikers and foreign tourists seeking to experience life in the home town of the Fairmount native and actor James Dean. As a native, the effects of tourism, though limited to a single weekend during the James Dean Festival, are very clear. Fairmount is re-imagined as numbers of people walk to streets in their red leather jackets and greased hair, an anomaly that is culminated with the annual James Dean Look Alike Contest. This is a far cry from the flannel shirts of the farmers that normally grace the streets. Countless others drive their rebuilt 1950's era automobiles to the annual car show. Again, a mode of transportation that is rather different than the fleets of pick-up trucks that normally drive the streets of Fairmount.

Furthermore, this weekend of cultural colonialism is gradually beginning to sink deeper roots as the town run Fairmount Museum is often overshadowed by the James Dean Gallery or the James Dean Museum. In fact, the newly constructed James Dean Museum has even been built outside of Fairmount, along Interstate 69 to allow for a more convenient tourist experience as it is located closer to the hotels and farther from Dean's birthplace.

As a member of the museum business I found Rothman's analysis to be challenging, and to some extent disturbing. Given that museums are, for better or for worse, to a greater or lesser extent, tied to the tourist industry, I find that Rothman's argument deserves further analysis. I have worked as, what one might call, a neonative from the future as an interpreter at living history museums. While I hope and believe that, as institutions built upon historical method, museums do not pose the same threat of re-interpretation to native communities, their link to tourism means that greater attention should be paid to this issue. Perhaps, in their most glowing sense, museum's can be viewed as institutions that stand in the gap between cultural re-imagination and the past. I have seen history used in both ways. One one end of the spectrum you can find what I would term tourist history, the historians worst nightmare, "historic" ghost tours. On the other end of the spectrum, one finds museums, such as the living history museums I have worked with, that take their role as public educators (particularly as educators for the many school groups that visit them on field trips) very seriously. With that said, the I find the idea that history, as presented by a museum not grounded in sound historical practice, can contribute to the re-imagination and eclipse of an historic community very real and very disturbing.

Rothman's work provided a very challenging analysis of the impact of tourism upon the West. His portrayal of the transformation of communities effected by tourism is a very real issue that deserves further attention. As historians, it is this type of re-imagination of history that we must be wary of as scholars and as tourists ourselves.

Post #12

Water and the West
Reading

Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner

This weeks reading did an excellent job at openening up the eyes of the historian to the significance of water in the history of the American West. As Reisner takes the reader down the rivers of the West with John Wesley Powell and eventually takes the reader up to the dams that sought to control those rivers, the true significance of water upon the settlement and development of the West becomes very evident. I have to agree, in part, with the editors description of this work as "a stunning expose and dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--and Eden that may be only a mirage." Unfortunately, the way in which the author frames his work and his use of historical method give this book a strong leaning in the expose camp.

The way in which the author sets up his study in the introduction makes this assessment fairly clear. From the introduction the reader very quickly gets a sense that this is more than an historical study. It is intended to provide the context for a current debate. For example, Reisner writes, "Perhaps, the despite fifty thousand major dams we have built in Merica; despite the fact that federal irrigation has, for the most part, been a horribly bad investment in free-market terms; despite the fact that the number of free-flowing rivers that remain in the West can be counted on two hands; perhaps, despite all of this, the grand adventure of playing God with our waters will go on." (Reisner 14) This statement seems to hold fairly clear message that the author is trying to find an answer to a current issue by looking at the historical record. The question the arises, is this a work of presentism or a sound historical analysis of a long running issue in the history of the West?

I should take a moment to comment on this approach. I believe that we would all agree that the use of history to enlighten our understanding of the present is clearly one of the reasons why the study of history is vitally important. The question is whether the author's purpose here is to let the past speak or to simply expose historical precedents that support his argument. There is a very fine, but significant, line here.

In this work, I believe that the author is attempting to stay within a sound historical approach. I also believe that he falls into a few historiographical pitfalls that weaken his historical foundation. First, Reisner tends to use language that leans towards the dramatic. The previous quote is one example, "the grand adventure of playing God with our waters..." (Reisner 14). He also makes comments such as, "the Apache and Comanche, soon evolved into the best horsemen who ever lived..." (Reisner 17). Such comments make for interesting reading but are slightly out of place in an historical work. Perhaps my analysis of his writing style was tainted by these early comments, but the presence of such dramatic exaggerations is made significantly more problematic when one considers Reisner's complete lack of citation.

Reisner does an acceptable job of putting together a bibliography in which he explains his general use of sources for each chapter. However, the lack of any internal citation pointing directly to the source of his supporting evidence significantly undermines the historical foundation of this work. Such a lack of clear citation should cause any historian to take a deeper look at the foundation upon which the author is building his or her argument. Unfortunately, that task is made problematic by that same lack of citation.

The combination of these factors; the slight presentist leaning, the exaggerated writing style, and the lack of internal citation should cause the historian to pause. I do not think that we should dismiss the work entirely. As I mentioned before, it does an excellent job of exposing the significance of water on the development of the West. Furthermore, the author does write an interesting narrative of that development. I do suggest that we take into account the works historical shortcoming and take a cautious look at his work.

Post #11

Re-examining Roy Baker

Over the past week I have been striving to locate and identify pictoral evidence that is relevant to Fort D.A. Russell, Cheyenne, and the Roy Baker case itself. I must confess that uncovering photographs dealing with this material has been particularly challenging. But I have made some progress thus far.

I have searched the online catalogs of the National Archives (NARA) and the Library of Congress extensively in hopes of finding a relevant collection. NARA has an large collection of digital images of Fort D.A. Russell. Unfortunatly, those images are from the fort during the World War I era. The most promising find I have discovered at NARA is a collection entitled, "Personnel and Activities of Infantry Units, 1850-1941". This collection contains, "portraits and other prints of officers and enlisted men of the 10th, 15th, 17th, and 19th Infantry." Due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to make the trip to College Park this week, but I intend to make the trip tomorrow in hopes of searching this and other collections at NARA.

I discovered a map in the Library of Congress' collection that might prove to be useful for some. This is a map entitled, "Bird's Eye View of Cheyenne, Wyo. county seat of Laramie Co. 1882" by Beck and Pauli lithographers. Even though this arial view predates our study it might still prove somewhat useful.

I also searched the Perry Casteneda Map Collection at the University of Texas Austin. This site has been very helpful for me in past research. It provides a large number of digital copies of hisotrical maps. However, in this case there were no maps that were particularly relevant. There are some very interesting historical maps on this sight, including a few maps dealing with Western expansion that may prove to be useful to some of you in the future.

I have also searched for other photographic evidence on online databases. I have made a few interesting finds. It must be noted though that I am very cautious in even listing these images. Online research for images can be a very dangerous thing for the historian so I will have to do much more backround research to confirm the accuracy of these images. The site titled Wyoming Tales and Trails has a number of images of Cheyenne and Fort D.A. Russell. Unfortunatley, the D.A. Russel images either deal with the early 20th Century or they are undated. There are a number of images of Cheyenne that are dated in the 1880's. However, given the title's inculsion of "tales", the lack of bibiographic information on the archives holding these images, and the lack of professional credentials of the individual who maintains the site, I am very hesitant to trust their accuracy.

Progress on my re-write is also coming along. I am interested to see what information in uncovered dealing with military life and discipline during this period. My paper largely focused upon this angle and the general breakdown of military order as a key factor that opened the door for the unfolding of events that led to the death of Roy Baker. It seemed as though there are a number of people delving into this information. Since this information will be so vital to my re-write (and since I do not desire to be a slug), I would be happy to assist anyone in this line of research as well if it is needed or desired.

Post #10

Political Activism and Historical Agency in the Historiography of the American West
Readings

Becoming Mexican American by George Sanchez
Indians In Unexpected Places by Philip DeLoria
"Still Native: The Significance of Native Americans in the History of the 20th Century American West" by David R. Lewis
"Significant to Whom?: Mexican Americans and the History of the American West"
by David G. Gutierrez

In this weeks readings, we were once again challenged with some of the same issues that we encountered when studying gender in the historical interpretation of the West. In particular, the issue of the historical agency of the minority is an issue that the historian must constantly wrestle with. After reading David Gutierrez's article, this issue and the varying ways in which historians confront it were brought to the forefront.

Gutierrez provides the reader with an excellent overview of the historiographical trends in Mexican American history. He argues that the real long-term legacy of conquest is not the domination of territory itself but the domination of the interpretation of the history of that conquest. He writes, "Ultimately, however, the most crucial development as a result of expansion and domination is the subsequent construction of elaborate sets of rationals which are designed to explain why one group has conquered another and to establish and perpetuate histories that help 'set...And enforce...Priorities, [repress] some subjects in the name of the greater importance of others, [naturalize] certain categories and [disqualify] others.''' (520) Clearly historical agency and the way in which the historian analyzes that agency are issues that are just as central to the historiographical debate on race as they were in the debate on gender. [In fact, Gutierrez pieces together this poorly organized quote from a work by Joan Scott, Gender and the Politics of History.]

While I agree that the agency of minorities must be incorporated into the historical debate when relevant, some of the historiographical initiatives designed to present that agency that Gutierrez highlights are questionable in my opinion. The red flag that caught my attention was the repeated connection of historian and activist. This correlation is clearly evident in his analysis of Mexican American historiography of George Sanchez (526), through the Chicano history movement (527), and into his analysis of historiography dealing with minority and gender history today(535).

The extent to which these two terms should be literally connected is a debate in and of itself. This forces the historian to wrestle with issues of objectivity and biases. I found it interesting that Gutierrez referred to Peter Novick's work, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession. In this work, Novik likens the quest for objectivity to one attempting to "nail jelly to the wall". Thus, I hesitate to take on this daunting issue yet again here. But unfortunately the question must be asked: does the inability to write purely objective history mean that the historian should quickly fall into the dangerous ground of tieing activism to historical analysis?

It is clearly impossible to avoid biases completely, the historian is human. Furthermore, I would not advocate a history that is completely void of interest on the part of the historian. That is the recipe for poorly written history. On the other hand, if the historian begins his or her analysis with an agenda rather than a research question, the evidence can very quickly begin to speak in unintended ways. Gutierrez makes it clear that this was the intent of many scholars attempted to bring new levels of agency to Mexican American historical actors.

I did not see this bias come out strongly, myself, when reading Sanchez's book. In fact, Gutierrez acknowledges that Sanchez, as a part of the first wave of historians struggling to provide a more clear picture of Mexican American history, was very intentional in maintaining the scholarly quality of his work (526).

I believe the line between the scholarly and political is crossed when one looks at Gutierrez's analysis of the Chicano history of the 1960'S and 1970's. Gutierrez acknowledges and then attempts to downplay the fact that, "the history produced during this period helped to create a different totalizing discourse that in some ways was as distorting, essentialistic, and exclusionary as the one activists were attempting to transform." (529) At that point, no matter how well intentioned the historian is in his or her analysis, that analysis has becomed blurred.

Again, it is not my intention to downplay the necessity of providing a more complete analysis of the impact of race and gender in the history of the American West. My concern begins when the agenda, and not the evidence, begins to speak. The historian must be passionate about unraveling the mysteries of the past, but at the point that the historian becomes and activist, that analysis can very quickly be limited and blinded by a political agenda.

Print the Legend Comments

I have posted comments on Ben's site and Audrey's site.

Post # 9

Snapshots of the Past
Reading

Print the Legend by Martha A Sandweiss

In this work, Martha Sandweiss tracks the development of the influence of photography upon the portrayal and imagination of the West. Sandweiss begins with an analysis of Daguerreotypes of the Mexican War, which she argues were dismissed largely for their inability to portray the broader themes of the war that the public desired to be given, which were provided by other forms of graphic art such as drawings and lithographs. She goes on to trace the evolution of photography and the way in which it was adapted to attempt to tell those stories that it, by nature of its realism, was initially ill suited to tell. This was a well thought out work in which Sandweiss does an good job of providing evidence for her arguments.

However, I found the historiographical discussion on the use of photographs as primary sources to be particulalry interesting. First, Sandweiss establishes the limited ability of a photograph to go beyond a snapshot depiction of the past and establish a broader historical meaning. Secondly, she challenges historians to analyze photographs just as they would any other primary source. Sandweiss argues that photographs must be analyed IN history, not just for what they portray but also for why they portray the image presented. In that regard, the historian must not only take into account the image itself but also the intent of the photographer and any biases that might shade the view of his or her cameral lense. In other words, the historian must take his or her analysis throught the lens of the camera, through the eye of the photographer, into the mind of the photographer that was influenced by social understandings and biases. Sandweiss also calls for an examination of photographs THROUGH history (Sandweiss 9). In other words, the varying and shifting ways in which an image has been used throughout the past must also be analyzed.

After working extensively with photographic evidence in the development of a multimedia tour presentation for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Sandweiss' argument raises many issues that I had encountered personally. In that position, I quickly encountered the pitfall of the use of images as editors afterthoughts. In a museum, it is the artifact itself that is the primary story teller. My photograph research was intended to supplement the lessons and significance portrayed in the artifact itself and the curator's description. While I do not think this is as inherantly wrong as Sandweiss attemts to make it, it did raise a bigger problem. When images are looked upon as afterthoughts, they can quickly be taken out of context in order to portray the broader story a curator, producer, or historian is trying to tell. I believe this becomes particulalry challenging once a video producer, with more lax hisoriographical standards is introduced into the process. Sandweiss gives an excellent example of this when she discusses Ken Burns use of images in his series on the West (Snadweiss 329). I have also been challenged with this issue. In preparing the presentation on the museum's F-4 Phantom II, I encountered an image of a formation of F-4's flying in the foreground as an unseen bomber was dropping its payload in the background. Had this image been included in the presentation, as the producer desired, one would have come away with impression that the F-4, a fighter aircraft, was carrying a large bomb load. Though this may seem like an insignificant issue, it does point to the small factors that can quickly lead to historical mis-interpretation.

Thus, I believe Sandweiss gives us all an excellent reminder about the importance of taking into account the entire context of any primary source, whether it be an image or a diary. Her historiographical challenges can go a long way in guiding the historian away from the pitfalls of misinterpretation and misrepresentation.