Frederick Jackon Turner, onetime Harvard professor and former president of the American Historical Association, was one of the most influential scholars in the field of U.S. History. His greatest contribution was the "frontier thesis," first advanced in 1893. The Turner thesis (as it is also known) stated, in brief, that "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development."

This thesis has been one of the most important and lasting interpretations of American history. It has also been one of the most repudiated, challenged, and attacked theories, so it has certainly needed its defenders over the years. Turner had one defender, however, who stood head and shoulders above the rest. That was Ray Allen Billington, a noted scholar in his own right, the former curator of the Huntington Library, and one of Turner's staunchest and most tireless disciples.

In writing The Far Western Frontier (first published in 1962), Billington had two expressed purposes in mind, which he laid out in the preface. The first was to describe, in all possible detail, the movement of settlers into America's Far West, along with the events, both national and international, that influenced their migration. His second objective was "to advance evidence pertaining to the generations-old conflict over the so-called 'frontier hypothesis.'" Implicit in that second purpose was Billington's desire to advance evidence in favor of the frontier hypothesis (i.e., the Turner thesis).

The Far Western Frontier tells the story of America's western migration from approximately 1830 to 1860. It is divided into twelve chapters, each telling the history of the settlement of a particular region (e.g., "the Mexican Borderlands," "The Mormons Move Westward," and "the California Gold Rush"). As part of his analysis, Billington judges the extent to which each of these settlement processes confirmed or refuted Turner's thesis. This is generally done in a subtle fashion; he seldom engages in any explicit discussion of Turner's hypothesis. However, the entire book is shot through with the very spirit of Turner. His presence lingers on every page.

As is characteristic of Billington, The Far Western Frontier is wonderfully literate, informative, and well written. The lively and eminently readable narrative is only fitting for a study of the American West-an area of history filled with great heroes, cowardly villains, and profuse myth-making. Billington, however, was not one to ignore his responsibilities as a historian in favor of the pursuit of drama. His methodology is sufficiently rigorous and objective to give much weight to his arguments. In typical Billington fashion, The Far Western Frontier is well documented (one might almost say exhaustively) and contains an extensive, if not comprehensive, bibliography.

Billington undertook a very serious take in writing this book-the rehabilitation of the Turner thesis-and he set about it in a most serious way. He brought to bear all of his considerable skills as a historian and scholar in an effort to describe and analyze the unique course of the settlement of the Far West, and to do so in a way that demonstrates the validity of the frontier thesis.

Ultimately, though, The Far Western Frontier must stand or fall according to how well Billington achieved his two stated objectives. On that basis, the book is a resounding success. It effectively recounts the movement of settlers into the Far West and the influence of world events on that migration. It also goes a long way toward not only re-examing the American West in terms of Turner's thesis, but in advancing the validity of that hypothesis.

The Far Western Frontier is a book both for the historian, and for anyone with an interest in this crucial part of American's history.

Billington is a scholar with the ability to tell a story lucidly and with a novelist's eye for what makes a book readable. He has selected colorful incidents to hightlight each section of his narrative. The geographical area covered in this book is primarily the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The author does travel eastward to Texas to develop the theme of overland travel and to describe historic western trails. Billington had two objectives: (1) The influence of national or world events on frontier America settlement; and (2) The relationship of Turner's Frontier Hypothesis on the customs of frontier people.

Billington generally finds support for Turner's thesis and concludes that western development was important in American history - a fact with which few would argue. He spends little time on Turner's proposition that the frontier was paramount in the evolution of the American character rather than a basic European background. Regardless, Billington has done much to resurrect Turner from the ash heap of history toward partial acceptance by the present day academic community.

This is a competent job of writing although there are annoyances that crop up throughout the book. Billington gives little attention to exploration and doesn't touch upon Indian life except as it affects that of the settlers. There is little information on early agriculture and urban development or the economic effect of the West's resources on the Eastern part of the United States. There are minor errors such as an incorrect title for Marcus Whitman and a misspelling of Henry Spaulding's name. Some debatable omissions are more serious.

The author finds little fault with the Spanish mission system in California as he recites their vast vineyards and impressive herds of livestock. Billington neglects the sordid aspects of the conversion of Native Americans to the unforgiving "labor and supply" system used by the missions. He does point out the harsh treatment by Mexicans of Indians under the notorious Ranchero system.

Billington has another blind spot with regard to the Mormon experience. He finds early day Mormon communities blameless in any dispute they may have had with neighboring gentiles. He raison d'etre for the Mormon Massacre is to cast blame upon the men, women, and children of the wagon train for their own destruction. Billington also disregards reports of ruthless actions undertaken by the Mormon hierarchy to keep back-sliding Mormons from leaving the community.

Billington's footnotes are interspersed throughout each chapter making this information easily accessible to a reader. Unfortunately, all photographs are placed in the center of the book which lessens their usefulness. Maps which relate to the text are positioned in the proper places. The bibliography, although dated, is in narrative form wherein Billington analyzes his sources. There are good and bad reasons with this method of listing source material.

The author tells his story with obvious enthusiasm. He eulogizes the pioneer spirit and applaudes various heroic personages not without justification. Any reader who is interested in the story of the acquisition of California, Oregon, Texas, and is curious about the Santa Fe trade network, gold mining, fur trading, and overland travel will find this book to his or her taste.

This book was a great source for my research on slave songs! I suggest this book to anyone who is interested in (or is researching) songs sung by slaves.