Before 1910 the American chestnut was one of the most common trees in the eastern United States. Although historical evidence suggests the natural distribution of the American chestnut extended across more than four hundred thousand square miles of territory—an area stretching from eastern Maine to southeast Louisiana—stands of the trees could also be found in parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington State, and Oregon. An important natural resource, chestnut wood was preferred for woodworking, fencing, and building construction, as it was rot resistant and straight grained. The hearty and delicious nuts also fed wildlife, people, and livestock. Ironically, the tree that most piqued the emotions of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Americans has virtually disappeared from the eastern United States. After a blight fungus was introduced into the United States during the late nineteenth century, the American chestnut became functionally extinct. Although the virtual eradication of the species caused one of the greatest ecological catastrophes since the last ice age, considerable folklore about the American chestnut remains. Some of the tree’s history dates to the very founding of our country, making the story of the American chestnut an integral part of American cultural and environmental history. The American Chestnut tells the story of the American chestnut from Native American prehistory through the Civil War and the Great Depression. Davis documents the tree’s impact on nineteenth-and early twentieth-century American life, including the decorative and culinary arts. While he pays much attention to the importation of chestnut blight and the tree’s decline as a dominant species, the author also evaluates efforts to restore the American chestnut to its former place in the eastern deciduous forest, including modern attempts to genetically modify the species.

An introductory biography of Baraga, lengthy passages from his letters, vignettes about persons in the text and a comprehensive bibliography yield an in-depth portrait of mid-nineteenth century life, especially in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was 1831 when Father Frederic Baraga arrived in this country from his native Slovenia. He had come to bring Christianity to the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of the Old Northwest. Twenty years later, when Baraga first heard that he might be named Bishop of Upper Michigan, he began to keep a "daybook" or diary. Intended as a private document for his own use and reference, the diary contains a log of Baraga's missionary journeys, his observations about daily weather conditions, ship movement on the lakes, and a running account of the various works he accomplished. Between the lines of the usually concise entries, however, there are clues to Baraga's zeal, dedication, and generosity. An introductory biography of Baraga, lengthy passages from his letters, vignettes about persons in the text and a comprehensive bibliography yield an in-depth portrait of mid-nineteenth century life, especially in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

A Stanford University Press classic.

This fourth volume of the History of the Prairie West Series contains fifteen articles examining the rich history of business and early industry in Canada's Prairie Provinces prior to the Great Depression. Without denying the central importance of agriculture in the development and growth of the early Prairie West, the essays in Business and Inudstry explore the lesser known history of some of the earliest businesses in the region. As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, a time when the three Prairie Provinces comprise the fastest-growing, and perhaps the most dynamic, economic regions in Canada, it may be worthwhile to cast our gaze back to an earlier and simpler era. In these essays, we can glimpse the origins of the entrepreneurial spirit and business ehtos that have come to define the business culture of the Prairie West.

Giant in the Shadows is the definitive biography of Robert T. Lincoln (1843-1926), the oldest son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln and their only child to live past age eighteen. Emerson, after nearly ten years of research, draws upon previously unavailable materials to cover Robert Lincoln's entire life in detail.