Peopling the Plains Who Settled Where in Frontier Kansas James R. Shortridge 288 pages, 113 maps, 6 x 9 Cloth ISBN 978-0-7006-0697-9, $29.95 In the wake of the turbulent 1850s, Kansas was popularly portrayed as a Yankee stronghold, a "child of Plymouth Rock" where Puritan virtue triumphed over base Southern ways. Perpetuated by a century and a half of historical propaganda, this fictitious notion tenaciously shrouds the real Kansas. In Peopling the Plains, James R. Shortridge helps set the record straight. Early Yankee settlers did indeed influence the location of major education and governmental facilities, he shows, but they were only one of many regional and ethnic forces that molded the state's complex cultural and economic heritage. Germans and other Europeans established ethnic enclaves in central Kansas and introduced agricultural practices that persist today. Southerners expanded the cattle industry in the southern tier. Midland farmers came in search of cheaper land. Freed slaves sought urban and rural opportunities. Italians and other southern Europeans worked the southeastern mines. And Mexicans helped build the railroads. Chock-full of information and maps constructed from a wealth of census data, this richly annotated atlas illustrates the distribution of settlers from diverse cultural and ethnic origins from across America and around the world. Regional maps, depicting northeastern, southeastern, central, and western counties, are broken down into townships to provide an accurate and detailed picture of the origins of the early immigrants. Beyond mapping the physical settlement patterns--from those of pre–Civil War Yankee and Rebel colonies in the east to the configuration of turn-of-the-century homesteads in the west--Shortridge explores how those patterns were influenced by railroad routes and promotion; land prices and speculation practices; homesteading laws; U.S. and international social, economic, and political conditions; terrain; weather; and pioneer perseverance. He also demonstrates that many legacies of the original settlers have endured and are apparent today in social, political, agricultural, and religious customs throughout the state. "This stimulating and pathbreaking book represents a quantum leap in the geographical study of frontier population origins and their significance for later political and cultural development at the state level. Shortridge has crafted a rare and intriguing blend of well-designed maps and thoughtful commentary that will have significance far beyond the specific realm of Kansas history and geography, to which it nevertheless makes a powerful contribution."--Michael P. Conzen, editor of The Making of the American Landscape "Shortridge continues the great tradition begun by James Malin of weaving regional history out of the state census data, newspaper articles, and various local documents. Kansas's frontier history leading up to the Civil War is, of course, well known, yet Shortridge has managed to provide a fresh perspective on 'bleeding Kansas' by revealing the extent to which separate 'nations' based on Yankees, Midlanders, and Southerners really had emerged in Kansas by 1860. He also reveals the importance of ethnic groups in settling the state, especially the wheat lands of central and western Kansas. Both comprehensive and compelling, this book will stand as a classic of Kansas history and should serve as a model for other state demographic histories. "--John C. Hudson, author of Making the Corn Belt "Monumental. A gold mine of information, an absolute required reference for studying the history of Kansas. The conclusions backed by well-organized data will be appreciated not only by scholars, but also by history buffs and genealogists interested in local beginnings. All geographers, economists, political scientists, and historians dealing with Kansas--as well as all potential barbecue restaurant owners--ought to have it as part of their libraries."--C. Robert Haywood, author of Trails South and Victorian West JAMES R. SHORTRIDGE is a professor of geography at the University of Kansas. Among his other books are Our Town on the Plains: J. J. Pennell's Photographs of Junction City, Kansas, 1893–1922, Kaw Valley Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide to Northeastern Kansas, and The Middle West: Its Meaning in American Culture, winner of the John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize. Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order New Books: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series Books in Print: | By Author | By Subject | By Title | By Series ©2007 University Press of Kansas 2502 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, KS 66045-4444 Phone (785) 864-4155; Fax (785) 864-4586