Words that won the west: 1830–1850

Abstract

Dr. Billington was born in Bay City, Michigan, in 1903. Reared in Detroit, he was educated at the University of Wisconsin (Ph.B., 1926), the University of Michigan (M.A., 1927) and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1933). He taught at Clark University and Smith College before going to Northwestern University where he held the William Smith Mason chair of History from 1944 to 1963. In 1963, he became Senior Research Associate at the Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California. In 1953–54, Dr. Billington served as Harold Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor of History at Oxford University. He holds honorary degrees from Oxford (M.A.), Bowling Green State University (Litt. D.) and Park College (LL.D.). He has served as president of three of the major historical societies: the American Studies Association (1959–61), the Mississippi Valley Historical Association (1962–63) and the Western History Association (1961–63). Dr. Billington is the author of numerous books and articles on western history, including Western Expansion: A History of the American Frontier (2nd edition, 1960); The Far Western Frontier, 1830–1860 (1956); and The Westward Movement in the United States (1959). He is also the editor of an 18-volume series, The Histories of the American Frontier , published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.