Miles from Nowhere: Tales from America's Contemporary Frontier

by Dayton Duncan

Overview

"In this splendid book a gifted observer and a terrific idea have come together in a real love match. In 1990, a century after the census bureau's famous observation of the frontier's imminent end, Dayton Duncan set out in an aging GMC Suburban to visit a large sampling of counties outside Alaska that have fewer than two persons per square mile—the bureau's old standard for places still in a frontier condition. There are 132 such counties. All are in the West. . . . The result of his tour is an insightful and entertaining book, troubling and funny and consistently illuminating. . . . Much of the book's charm comes from Duncan's sketches of people who choose to live 'miles from nowhere'—ranchers in the Nebraska sandhills, a New Mexican bar owner, a priest and United Parcel Service driver along the Texas-Mexico border, and the descendant of a Seminole Negro army scout in west Texas. In them he finds characteristics associated with the mythic frontier. . . . Great fun to read."—Montana

Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, Dayton Duncan has been a reporter, humor columnist, editorial writer, chief of staff to a governor, and deputy press secretary for presidential campaigns. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. His books include Out West: An American Journey, also available in a Bison Books edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803266278
Publisher:	UNP - Bison Books
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	490,708
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.78(d)

About the Author

Born and raised in a small town in Iowa, Dayton Duncan has been a reporter, humor columnist, editorial writer, chief of staff to a governor, and deputy press secretary for presidential campaigns. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire. His books include Out West: An American Journey, also available in a Bison Books edition.

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Travels in a Conestoga	1
Chapter 1.	Big Dry	23
Chapter 2.	Violence	62
Chapter 3.	Escape	99
Chapter 4.	Boom and Bust	133
Chapter 5.	Below the Irreducible Minimum	173
Chapter 6.	Rainbow of the West	188
Chapter 7.	El Despoblado	217
Chapter 8.	Dumping Ground	239
Chapter 9.	Old Frontier, Contemporary Frontier	281
	Epilogue: a Census of Nowhere	293
	Contemporary Frontier Counties	299
	Selected Sources	305
	Index	311

Editorial Reviews

A perceptive and engaging observer, Duncan ( Out West: An American Journey ) set out in 1990 aboard the GMC Suburban truck he dubbed the Conestoga to describe life in several vast, underpopulated Western counties ``where a land-hungry nation nibbled but lost its normal appetite.'' Duncan is no questing William Least Heat Moon or quirky Ian Frazier, but he ably melds history and reportage: as in the past, the schoolteacher and the rancher are the frontier couple. Although most frontier dwellers approach a cowboy stereotype, Duncan meets New Agers in Colorado's Saguache County; he notes a parallel to the days of the old frontier, when land was also marketed to people on the basis of dreams. Yet he also finds modernity, ``the first commuters' gold rush,'' in Nevada, and regularly tracks the ``irreducible minimum''--establishments a county can't function without--citing hairdressers and video rental stores. He concludes with a reasoned rebuke to the academics who argue that economic, climatic and social distress will depopulate these regions. ``They have overlooked the irreducible minimum,'' he argues, claiming that sparsely settled places may undergo difficult adjustments but will persist. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Duncan traveled more than 30,000 miles of what he calls the contemporary American frontier, which consists of the 132 counties within 14 Western states that have fewer than two persons per square mile. For readers living in mainstream America, Duncan's tales sound like a report from a foreign country or a different time period. The strength of the book is in the accounts of people he meets in the nearly uninhabited--and sometimes nearly uninhabitable--regions. The residents are fiercely independent survivors who spend most of their lives battling the elements, yet they possess a deep love and respect for their surroundings. The same frontier spirit epitomized by the fur trappers and gold seekers of the late 1800s is alive and well, and Duncan, through his observations, descriptions, and characters, brings it back to life. This vastly entertaining and eye-opening reading experience is recommended for most collections.-- Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editoral Svces., Wondervu, Col.

Library Journal

Duncan (a writer, no university affiliation) explored the American West, focusing on those counties with fewer than two people per square mile. He sketches the people he encountered, including ranchers in the Nebraska sandhills, a New Mexico bar owner, a priest and UPS driver along the Texas-Mexico border, and the descendent of a Seminole Negro army scout in west Texas. He also describes the communities they belong to, and the geography of the areas where they live. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews