Lasso the Wind: Away to the New West Book

When given the question, "who is your favorite author," for years my answers have been Doris Kearns Goodwin for nonfiction and Isabel Allende for fiction. I turn to the two of their writing when I am in need of a comfort read, so the question "who is your favorite author," has been a no brainer, until this year. In the nonfiction book club in 2019 I have read two books by gifted storyteller Timothy Egan. Egan has the rare ability to bring long past history to life and has me reaching for his books about subjects that I had little to no interest in. When my friends in the nonfiction book club wanted to read another of Egan's books before the year was out, I could not say no. Lasso The West is his ode to the American West, and I was happy to be along for the ride.

Although a writer for the New Yorker, Timothy Egan is a third generation Westerner. A native of Washington state, he has long made Seattle home, and the city and her history have played a role in his books. Lasso the West is part history, part travelogue, part essay, as Egan tells the story of the land and the people that have shaped the American west. In 1893 Frederick Jackson Turner declared the frontier"closed". Both the buffalo and native Americans had been wiped out. Homesteaders- read Anglo Americans- staked their claim to land, and the dawn of an era of eastern robber barons set to rob the West of her natural resources had begun. Egan argues that the West was not closed; however, most Americans still had not ventured past their eastern establishments, so to easterners, news that the buffalo and natives had been vanquished essentially meant that the region had been conquered. In the late 19th century, the west was still a region of virgin forests, rivers, flora, and fauna and a melting pot of Native, Spanish, and other immigrant cultures who made California their new home. Once easterners attempted to seize the west, a melding of ethnic groups would not be a western reality for nearly one hundred years. In the meantime, two competing ideologies would attempt to save the west from itself.

With the establishment of the National Park Service, Theodore Roosevelt enacted a law that would preserve millions of acres of western land, much to the chagrin of western settlers and logging interests. Egan has visited Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and many other American treasures; so did Roosevelt, who was as much of an outdoorsman as he was a politician. He foresaw how loggers and miners were on the verge of stripping the land of her beauty and resources and knew that he had to preserve his beloved western lands to be enjoyed by future generations. The National Parks give America her flavor, demarcating that her crown jewels are found in nature rather than museums. While writing the essays for this book, Egan traveled the Beartooth Abarasoka Highway into Yellowstone's northwestern boundary and experienced snowfall there on the summer solstice. He hiked Yosemite with friends, visited the Grand Canyon, and made himself at home in the region's many streams and parks. Even though the west was said to be closed nearly one hundred twenty years ago, parts of Idaho and Montana are largely untamed. With his descriptions of breath-taking scenery, Egan allows readers to feel as though they are along for these travel adventures.

In addition to lighthearted fishing expeditions with his brothers, Egan also relates the history of the west in abbreviated fashion. There is the community of Supai, Arizona that still receives its mail from a mule train a few times a week. For all purposes, the town is a picture of 19th century life. In Arizona and New Mexico we learn of the long history of the Native Americans' attempts to thwart Spanish and Anglo advances on their culture. In a few isolated pockets, a few tribes have persevered. There is a chapter on the Mormon way of life in Utah, the perils of the Nez Perce tribe, Egan's encounters with Texans escaping the summer heat in Yellowstone, and a white water rafting expedition into the heart of the California gold country. Egan brings readers back to present times as he contrasts the immigrant culture that existed during Spanish rule of California with the pillaging of the west and how the state is a plurality with more than eighty cultures represented today. California still represents America's final frontier, home to Los Angeles and the Golden Gate, a flourishing Mexican culture, and Asians of a multitude of nationalities. The overpopulation of California and Las Vegas in Nevada have stripped the west of her resources, and for this Egan, a westerner to the core, is forever grateful of Roosevelt's national park service.

While Doris Kearns Goodwin still remains my favorite nonfiction author, Timothy Egan is in the running as a close second. I have enjoyed all three of his books that I read this year, complete with his ability to tell a story out of anything and vivid descriptions of time and place. I have two more of his books to read for next year, and I see he has even contributed to a book about baseball. For that reason, by the end of next year, third generation westerner Timothy Egan might vault to one-a on my list of favorite nonfiction authors. Lasso the Wind is a wonderful reminder of his full storytelling experience.

4+ stars