W. Foster-Harris

An author-friend recommended this book as a resource for writing about the Old West, and dang, she was right. This is a treasure trove of minutia on Civil War flags and equipment (I was surprised at the wealth of Civil War information and particularly recommend this to writers in that period), how cowboys actually operated on the range from chuck wagons to cattle drives to gear, and what guns they used and why. The book is fully illustrated, too. Foster-Harris writes of this minor details in a way that is fully engaging... but he also writes from a certain viewpoint and time period. This book was first published in the 1950s. It tightly focuses on the experience of the white male in the west. Mexicans and Native Americans are only noted as contributors of styles and equipment; the word Negroes is utilized; and women are scarcely present at all, literally getting a few pages on fashion in the last few pages.

That said, this book is still a solid resource. Foster-Harris writes as a man who grew up around Civil War veterans. He speaks of western settlement from a perspective of immediate hearsay and his own life experience in Oklahoma, and it is absolutely intriguing. Just be aware of the context of the time it was written and that it is not representative of the full western experience.… (mer)

The author has endeavored to use a microscope on the details of the people who spread across the western plains of America. He touches on the large picture, especially any inaccuracies we have been given in film and fiction. It is, however, a book of its time. There is little to no mention of the natives who inhabited the land, though to be fair, his focus was on those from the east coast of America who traveled and made their home in the western plains.

It was far more than I wanted to know about the Cavalry, soldiers and such of the 1860s through 1890s. Every detail of the uniform and weaponry is discussed, described and analyzed. It also went through many of the other denizens from the West, discussed the whys and wherefores and hows of travel, livelihoods, abodes and such. There is a throwaway chapter on women's dress and that is it for the women. Clearly not an important factor to this author.

It would be a terrific book for an author, reenactor, researcher or anyone who wanted to recreate the West with proper details. The author's folksy wording did not endear him to me, and although I love all things West, I grew very tired of this book as a reading book.… (mer)