Publication: American Studies, Vol. 44, No. 3
Author: Melody Herr
Date of Publication: Fall 2003
PDF File: Herr-Frontier-Stories-Reading-and-Writing-Plains-Archa.pdf
Description
Today W. Duncan Strong (1899-1962) has been all but forgotten in the history of American archaeology. He made no front-page discoveries or theoretical breakthroughs; his single claim to fame was his contribution to Great Plains archaeology. This work, carried out in the early 1930s at the beginning of his career during the otherwise unremarkable Nebraska State Archaeological Survey, merits a place in the discipline’s history merely because his were the first substantial publications on this previously neglected region. For students of American literature and culture, however, his Nebraska field journals and publications offer an extraordinary opportunity for investigating popular images of the Great Plains. Specifically, Strong’s writings reveal the ways in which stories about the American frontier, from historical documents and scientific reports to novels and folk memories, shaped perceptions of the region’s landscape and history.