Megan Kate Nelson is a writer and historian whose work illuminates the American Civil War and the history of the American West. She masterfully weaves together the narratives of the Union, the Confederacy, and Native peoples, revealing the intricate ways these conflicts shaped American culture. Nelson's scholarship is distinguished by its deep historical inquiry and her commitment to presenting nuanced perspectives to a wide audience.
A narrative of adventure and exploration, Saving Yellowstone is also a story of Indigenous resistance, the expansive reach of railroad, photographic, and publishing technologies, and the struggles of Black southerners to bring racial terrorists to justice. It reveals how the early 1870s were a turning point in the nation's history, as white Americans ultimately abandoned the the higher ideal of equality for all people, creating a much more fragile and divided United States"--.
Each year nearly four million people visit Yellowstone National Park -- one of the most popular of all national parks -- but few know the fascinating and complex historical context in which it was established. In late July 1871, the geologist-explorer Ferdinand Hayden led a team of scientists through a narrow canyon into Yellowstone Basin, entering one of the last unmapped places in the country. The survey's discoveries led to the passage of the Yellowstone Act in 1872, which created the first national park in the world.
"A deeply-researched, dramatic, and character-driven narrative account of the violent struggle between Union and Confederate forces to claim the American West during the Civil War"-- Provided by publisher