Frontier Farewell

The 1870s and the End of the Old West

Garrett Wilson

• Publisher: University of Regina Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9780889773615
• eBook ISBN:
  9780889773639
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

"'Buffalo!' The old horseman struggled to his feet and boldly began his toast with glass held high, his weather-worn visage conspicuous in the room full of young men. Then 'BUFFALO,' this time more quietly. Then, after a long pause, 'buffalo,' almost in a whisper..."

Thus Garrett Wilson introduces his epic account of the 1870s, a decade that saw unprecedented changes come to the Great Plains of North America: famine, fire, and pestilence--the disappearance of the buffalo--the last stand of the Sioux and the Metis--the Boundary Survey and the "March West" of the North-West Mounted Police--men like Dumont, Walsh, Macleod, and Sitting Bull--all encompassed within a brief 10 years, which saw the disappearance of the Old West, and the birth of a new society.

Told with wit, sensitivity, and panache, Frontier Farewell explodes old myths and brings new perspectives to this pivotal era in the development of the North American West.

Table of contents

• cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Foreword to the 2014 Edition
• Foreword to the 2007 Edition
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• A Note on Terminology
• Between the Rivers
• The “Medicine Line”
• The Era of Expansion
• Confederation Comes West
• The Crisis in Red River
• The Birth of Manitoba
• Twin Scourges: Smallpox and War
• The Métis
• The Battle of the Grand Coteau
• The End of the Red River Hunt
• “So Long as the Sun Shines”
• The Boundary Survey
• By Section, Township and Range
• The North-West Mounted Police
• The Buffalo
• The Road to Little Big Horn
• The Events of 1876–77
• Canada Versus the United States
• Fire and Starvation
• Surrender
• 1881: The End of the Old West
• Epilogue: After Events
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Chronology
• Index
• About the Author
• About the Type