Posted 10 February 2005

In an 1859 pamphlet, William T. Coggeshall – the last in an important line of antebellum Cincinnati literary doyens – lamented that ‘Western literature, though in a lively degree representing Pioneer men and Pioneer times, has been disregarded as a distinct power’ (928). Coggeshall may be little cheered to know that his own posthumous laurels rest not on his writings, but on the moment that he saved Abraham Lincoln from an assassination attempt on his inaugural train journey to Washington. He would be pleased, however, with Watts and Rachels’ anthology of writings from the first west. As should we all. Coggeshall himself realised that those who controlled anthologies controlled which literature was given ‘due respect’; for too long ‘critics and compilers “down east”’ have done ‘injustice to the “great west”’ (938). The very appearance of The First West is therefore reason for celebration, since it both reflects and confirms a growing interest in that much neglected area neatly sandwiched between the Appalachians and the Mississippi during its antebellum adolescence.

As with any anthology, the weighting of authors and texts is a difficult balancing act, especially in a collection that hopes to break new paths for others to follow. According to the editors, its structure reflects those monthly journals that first circulated much of this material: fiction, reportage, political documents, poetry and biography miscellaneously rub against one another. In theory, this approach should create productive sparks. In practice, a stronger editorial hand would be a distinct boon. Bemusingly, the texts seem to appear in order of their author’s date of birth, and the lack of thematic or geographical sections, or even simple publication chronology, means that the texts cannot speak to each other as usefully as they should. It also means that the anthology has trouble in meeting its express aims. The endeavour of attempting to place eastern representations of the west in a national cultural context, whilst promoting western texts to the national stage, is not helped by mixing both together in a potentially confusing melee. (And why, for that matter, is Cooper represented by The Prairies, a novel concerned with the trans-Mississippi west?) Ideally, the anthology should have been limited to what its subtitle promises: writings from the frontier. Alternatively, it could have been profitably opened up to all representations of the early west, properly delineated and grouped. At least each author is prefaced by an impressively researched biographical sketch that helps to fix oftentimes obscure figures. A guide to thematic links is also a useful resource, and the suggestions for further reading are very helpful. But the lack of a defining structure, editorial footnotes, and the criminal absence of an index, still feel like wasted opportunities.    

Ultimately, the strength of any anthology resides in its texts. Watts and Rachels have done a fantastic job in placing favourite treasures against freshly mined jewels. The Cinicinnati group are well represented, as are the humorists, and there are plenty of fascinating Native materials. Indeed, the engaging juxtaposition of the Indian Removal Act, Elias (Galegina) Boudinot’s ‘Address to the Whites’ and the Constitution of the Cherokee Nation shows how fruitful a better organisation of material throughout could have been. A list of highlights – inevitably somewhat arbitrary and personally inflected – include: Zadok Cramer’s river bible, The Navigator; Timothy Flint’s Recollections; James Hall’s forward looking ‘Three Hundred Years Hence’; Benjamin Drake’s wonderfully even-handed Life of Black Hawk; Audubon’s prose, too underrated; and Margaret Fuller’s almost forgotten Summer on the Lakes. Any student could compile an equally diverse and entertaining list, and almost every selection suggests tempting new areas for exploration and development. Were it not for the hefty price tag, this anthology would be an indispensable resource, rather than one that simply comes highly recommended. The last word lies with Coggeshall: ‘We may regret that our literary pioneers did not meet wider encouragement and ampler reward, but we need not complain, unless we take care that the future does not have reason to complain of us’ (940).

Buy this book now from Amazon