How Cities Won the West: Four Centuries of Urban Change in Western North America (review)

Abstract

254Southwestern Historical QuarterlyOctober bibliography and discography that help guide the reader to additional sources of information. All in all, this is a well-researched, well-written, and beautifully designed book that will be enjoyed by almost anyone interested in Texas music history. Texas State University-San MarcosGary Hartman How Cities Won the West: Four Centuries of Urban Change in Western North America. By Carl Abbott. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008. Pp. 358. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliographic note, index. ISBN 9780826333124, $34-95 cloth). By invoking the intentionally provocative phrase "Won the West," Carl Abbott's tide alerts readers of two important themes oudined in his story: the centrality and, indeed, "triumph" of cities on the western landscape and the author's desire to situate cities at die heart ofhistorical debates on the American West. Regarding the latter point, his book is as much a history of the Nordi American West as it is a history of cities within it—a relationship inextricably linked. Abbott also traces the changes western cities experienced from their earliest frontier stage to their present-day status as centers for global innovation. The cities of the West evolved from a dependent, almost child-like relationship with the East to themselves being the mature parent, stimulating economic, social, and intellectual change in North America and the world. In short, Abbott asserts, "We can say that the cities ofwestern North America have come into their own" (275). Abbott identifies his study as "Four Centuries of Urban Change"; however, given the paucity of urban development in the West before the nineteenth century , he appropriately focuses on the nineteenth and twentiedi centuries. The book is broken into two distinct periods of transition: 1840-1940, and the West since 1940. After brief mention ofseventeenth- and eighteenth-century trade and mission sites like Sitka, Santa Fe, and San Antonio, the narrative quickly moves to a discussion of gateway centers, such as St Louis, Omaha, Dallas, and Winnipeg (on the eastern boundary) and Honolulu, San Francisco, Pordand, Vancouver , Seattle, and San Diego (on the Pacific rim). It is worth noting that Abbott incorporates the urban development of western Canada into his study, arguing that western Canadian cities followed a similar macro-historical process to that of their United States counterparts—a shared trajectory that includes exploration, trade, missionary efforts, resource extraction, and town development. Whether it is the launch of Lewis and Clark's expedition from St. Louis, the Mormon exodus to the shores of the Great Salt Lake, the rush for gold through San Francisco, labor unrest in Cripple Creek, or the Kaiser shipyards in California, scholars ofthe American West will find familiar subject matter in Abbott's study. In this respect, the author masterfully weaves the history of western North America through the lens of urban development. Urban studies themes also figure prominently in the book, including civic boosterism, the "city beautiful" movement, tourism, neoprogressivism , urban renewal, and grassroots civic activism represented by groups like the Communities Organized for Public Service (cops) in San Antonio. 20ogBook Reviews255 In his telling of the history ofwestern North American cities, Abbott breaks litde new ground. Interestingly, there is not only inevitability to Abbott's urban West, but also the notion that western urban development is a positive good, despite sometimes negative social and environmental consequences. In terms of time and space, the book's innovation lays in its broad sweep and narrow scope, synthesizing copious city histories and larger western studies into a cohesive narrative. The author winds his story effordessly through western urban history—from Larimer's swindle for the future site of Denver in 1858 to the Riverfront for People's rally for park areas along Pordand's waterfront in 1969. Still, much goes unsaid. From the perspective ofTexas history, there is litde discussion ofSpindletop and its early influence on urban development (especially Houston) and little credit is given to Texas cities for Progressive innovations in city government (like the Galveston Plan) or the role of Texans in the founding of La Raza Unida. Of course, these criticisms are typical ofa bold synthesis: everyone wants a little more on their area of interest. University ofTexas-Pan AmericanLinda English Pueblos, Spaniards...