A fresh, provocative study ... Departing from well-trodden narratives about conservation and public recreation, she views the park’s formation as an opportunistic land grab, desired or opposed by various private interests but ultimately pursued by a federal government eager to assuage Reconstruction-era political tensions by seizing territory from Indigenous people.
Intriguing if disjointed ... Nelson makes excellent use of the diaries and letters of expedition members to convey Yellowstone’s natural wonders ... Nelson takes long detours into the politics and racial tensions of the Reconstruction-era South ... Despite its fascinating elements and eloquent evocations of the Western landscape, this kaleidoscopic history doesn’t quite coalesce.
