Comments on: The mythical West: John Wesley Powell and the limits of individualism

By: Martin Kohout

Martin Kohout — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:25:54 +0000

And vice versa!

By: samwilson

samwilson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:40:10 +0000

If you go west long enough you end up in the east.

By: Leo Tynan

Leo Tynan — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:47:27 +0000

Great analysis!
It seems to me that the westward expansion initially was fueled by either a desire to flee some sort of punishment or to accumulate great wealth or power. After all , the eastern US was not exactly overcrowded. I think that those headed west were not satisfied with a communal, cooperative,or settled agrarian existence. And they didn’t mind, perhaps even craved, solitude. For many “settlers”, rugged individualism was actually a manifestation of their criminality, antisocial behavior, adventurism, or rapacious desire for wealth- which is why corporate interests ultimately fit in so well and were fast on their heels! Once boots were “on the ground” , mining companies, railroads, banking and cattle interests-all had their human infrastructure in place and were able to begin the corporate exploitation of the West. Later,despite now having corporate and government overlords , those rugged individuals continued to regard themselves as free and unfettered, hence perpetuating the Western myth our free market/property rights “exceptionalists” love to espouse today.

By: Martin Kohout

Martin Kohout — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:27:40 +0000

Oh, I basically agree with you, or would if I were smart enough to understand you: the older I get, the less patience I have with Jefferson. I do think, though, that the essential contradictions of Jeffersonian democracy were perhaps more quickly revealed in the West, where the fragility and/or scarcity of resources meant that a little selfishness went a long, long way – farther and quicker than it would have in the East.

By: Arun Swamy

Arun Swamy — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:03:00 +0000

I like it all except for the implicit notion that the West corrupted a pure Jeffersonian ideal. The contradictions of individualism, it seems to me, are all to be found in Jefferson, whose opposition to the centralized government that made possible the fantasy of a small-holding community (and the expropriation that lay behind it) fully anticipate the tendencies you decry so eloquently here.

By: Martin Kohout

Martin Kohout — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:41:00 +0000

Thanks, Chock. I love Beyond the Hundredth Meridian and, indeed, just about everything Stegner ever wrote; I still think Angle of Repose is the best novel ever written about the West.

By: Chock Woodruff

Chock Woodruff — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:32:52 +0000

Well put, Martin…
Another great source on John Wesley Powell (with special emphasis on his political battles involving water and western lands) is “Beyond the Hundreth Meridian” by Wallace Stegner.