Bücher von Warren A. Beck

The enduring image evoked by the American West is one of grand physical and historical romance, spectacle, and drama. Many generations of historians, both popular and academic, have sought to communication the unique characteristics of this region, whose history and physical setting have for so long captured the public imagination. In the Historical Atlas of the American West, a historian and a geographer meet this challenge by telling the story of the region from a comprehensive geographical perspective. Defining the American West as the seventeen contiguous states from the one-hundredth meridian westward (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington), Warren A. Beck and Ynez D. Haase provide seventy-eight maps, each with explanatory text and a selective bibliography of further readings.This atlas presents the history of the West from prehistoric times to the present. The physical characteristics of the region-its natural resources and geographic features, climatic zones, agricultural regions, mineral resources, and native flora fauna-are presented, along with special maps stressing the impact of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and the eruption of Mount St. Helens.Several maps provide unique views of Western Indians from ancient times to the latter part of the nineteenth century, including maps devoted to the tragedy at Wounded Knee, the Ghost Dance Religion, and Indian judicial districts. All the major explorations and overland movements in the region, as well as the evolution of transportation routes-from cattle trails to modern railroads-are depicted. The Spanish-Mexican land grants are presented in detail, with special emphasis on the early ranchos of Texas. Locations of important military events and installations, ranging from the Indian Wars of West to World War II POW camps, are recorded.Beck and Haase have thus succeeded in synthesizing and capsulizing a vast amount of information on the American West to create seventy-eight vignettes of uniquely western events and life ways from 1536 to 1980. Offering insights into the region's geography and the various groups that have populated the West over the centuries, this atlas will provide a valuable reference for scholars and fascinating entertainment for Western history buffs.

This history of New Mexico is intended for readers who want a brief, yet comprehensive treatment of the state's development. Warren A. Beck takes a balanced approach to all the themes in the state's varied history. He allows the whole story to emerge from the facts--in a concise and readable format.

"Combines a good geography of the state with much interesting information along practically any line one might wish to follow."Navajo Times"It is a supreme treat to look at a volume so well organized. . . . [T]his is a must-have book."American West"School teachers will hail this book with delight, and students at any level will wonder how anyone ever got along without it."Santa Fe New MexicanNew Mexico's long and dramatic history was in many ways predestined by its location, vast size, and abundant mineral resources. Treasure-hunting Spanish explorers tramped across its plains and scaled its mountains in search of the Seven Cities of Cíbola in the sixteenth century. In clashing with descendants of the prehistoric Indian population, the Spanish began three centuries of struggles that lasted through the nineteenth century when the steamroller of United States expansion arrived. The history of New Mexico is the story of the blending of the three cultures-Hispanic, Indian, and Anglo. In this volume, a historian and a cartographer collaborate to depict specific aspects of the state's geography and events of its history, with the narrative illustrated through maps. Topics include geographical data (from topography to weather), sites of prehistoric civilizations, Spanish and United States expeditions, first towns, historic trails, the Civil War, stagecoach lines, railroads, county boundaries, principal cities and roads, state and national parks and monuments, and state judicial districts. Warren A. Beck was Professor of History at California State University, Fullerton. Ynez D. Haase is a professional geographer and cartographer in Santa Barbara. Beck and Haase are coauthors of Historical Atlas of California and Historical Atlas of the American West, also published by the University of Oklahoma Press.